Nigeria Content Online

Mimiko’s lawyer quizzed over election tribunals report

One of the lawyers employed by Ondo State governor,
Olusegun Mimiko, to defend him before the election petition tribunal
was quizzed at the weekend by men of the State Security Service (SSS)
over the source of the security report he tendered during the election
petitions tribunal proceedings.

Mr Mimiko, the candidate of the Labour Party,
challenged the declaration of former governor, Olusegun Agagu of the
PDP as winner of the 2007 polls at the tribunal, and successfully had
his victory at the polls affirmed by the tribunal. The lawyer, Remi
Olatubora, who is the chairman of Ondo State Sports Council, was one of
the notable legal practitioners contracted by Mr. Mimiko to plead his
case at both the tribunal and the Appeal Court.

Mr. Olatobora, who confirmed to reporters in Akure
that he was invited by the director of SSS to his office at the
Alagbaka during the weekend, said he was drilled for several hours. He
said he was denied access to his phone immediately he entered the
agency’s offices.

“Straight away, as I got to the SSS office, I was
stripped off my phones and I was quizzed by a team of interrogators
from Abuja, headquarters of the security agency,” he said.

Some members of the PDP in the state had called for
the evaluation of the judgment of the Election Petition Tribunal
delivered in the case to test the authenticity of security reports
tendered during the proceedings at the tribunals.

Questions about exhibits

They further argued that the security reports
tendered by Mr Mimiko’s counsel during the course of the litigation
were either forged or fake. Mr. Olatubora, who noted that he was
questioned by the SSS team led by one Mohammed Garba, said he was asked
to disclose the source of the security reports tendered during
proceedings.

“I told them that I was not in the position to know where the
litigant got his SSS reports from, but I admitted that it was parts of
the exhibits tendered at the Tribunal,” he said. “I told my
interrogators that I was not the lead counsel of Mimiko’s legal team
and could not have known.”

Native doctor arrested for drug trafficking

Native doctor arrested for drug trafficking

The National Drug
Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), on Sunday, announced the arrest of a
traditional doctor, Longe Adewale, and six others for peddling illegal
substances tested to be hard drugs.

According to the
agency, the suspects, who were all apprehended at the Murtala Mohammed
International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, included an “unrepentant drug
convict,” Uzoaru Oliver, who tested positive for drug ingestion on
Thursday, June 3, during screening of passengers on Iberia flight to
Madrid, Spain.

Mitchell Ofoyeju,
spokesperson for the agency, disclosed that the native doctor was
caught on June 8, attempting to board Iberia flight to Paris with 77
pieces of cocaine, which he is still expelling.

The suspect, Mr. Adewale, who fortified himself with charms, disclosed that he was surprised that he was found with drugs.

“I am a
traditional doctor and I prepared myself before the trip, so it is
shocking that they were able to detect me,” said the suspect, who hails
from Iperu, Ogun State.

Commenting on the
arrest of the ex-convict, the agency’s spokesperson disclosed that
while on observation, Uzoaru expelled 60 pieces of powdery substance
that tested positive for cocaine, weighing 915g.

“Uzoaru was first
arrested April 9, 2009 while about to board a KLM flight to Holland
with 1.27kg of cocaine in his stomach. He was charged to court and
sentenced to eight months imprisonment after which he regained his
freedom on Friday December 11, 2009,” he said.

The suspect, in a
statement from the agency, blamed his involvement in drug trafficking
on human error and frustration, adding that after leaving detention he
had nothing else to do.

“It is not a good thing to be in this condition, but I was frustrated and could not explain how it happened again.”

Government to register unemployed Nigerians

Government to register unemployed Nigerians

The federal
government has concluded plans to develop a database of all unemployed
persons in Nigeria, the minister of labour and productivity,
Chukwuemeka Wogu, has said.

The minister said
registering the unemployed in the country is necessary because nobody
knows the number of Nigerians that are unemployed, and planning
activity has been based on extrapolation. He said when this is
completed, employers will have easy access to labour while the platform
will be very useful for all activities in economic planning.

“Unemployment has
been a major problem in the country and has impeded on economic growth
of the nation,” he said. “It is a global problem now since both
emerging and established economies are battling with problems of
unemployment which has been worsened by the fact of global recession
which has been there for some time now. Inasmuch as we agree that there
is a high incidence of unemployment; nobody has been able to have an
approximate knowledge of the figure not to talk about exactitude though
you cannot have the exact figure. We do not have that. It is only
recently that the minister of finance said it is 19 per cent based on
National Bureau of Statistics information. So because of this
inaccurate data, we now went into registration of unemployed people and
to have a data base on it.”

Mr. Wogu explained
that an implementation committee, which comprises members from
government ministries, private sector and technical experts on ICT, was
set up to articulate this project and had submitted a report which
indicates that the first stage of the project will involve the
designing of an architectural platform that would be the basis for the
data base.

“The essence of the
data base is to capture at least 90 per cent of the unemployed people
through various means of data capturing using facilities that are
already in existence, which are state offices of the labour ministry
and National Directorate of Employment,” he said.

Abuja pilot project

When the
architectural platform is established, the next step will be the
development and deployment of publicity modules, followed by the
recruitment and training of frontline operators and monitoring officers
who do the registration and also help determine the situation of the
unemployed persons.

“The last issues
are output and analysis of the data and issuing of reports. Tied to
this is an outline of major deliverables we intend to achieve. After
this is the major activity which now has a timeline,” he said.

The minister equally said that a pilot of this project will start
off soon in FCT, after which other states will be covered. To avoid
double registration, the ministry said it plans to introduce some
biometrics in the process, even as it indicated its determination to
collaborate with the National Planning Commission and the National
Bureau of Statistics in this project.

Oyo lawmakers seek presidency’s intervention on attack

Oyo lawmakers seek presidency’s intervention on attack

Nine of the lawmakers rooting for the
impeachment of the speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Olawale
Atilola, at the weekend, petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan to
intervene in the crisis rocking the state legislature to forestall
bloodletting.

Other senior government officials
equally petitioned over the invasion of the state house of Assembly
last Tuesday are: the senate president David Mark, speaker of the House
of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, inspector-general of Police,
Ogbonna Onovo, and the director-general of the State Security Services
(SSS).

Thuggery and intimidation

Miffed by the level of desecration that
occurred at the chambers of the state legislature on the fateful day as
hoodlums from the state chapter of the National Union of Road Transport
Workers (NURTW) unleashed terror on some lawmakers, as well as caused
pandemonium at the premises of the state House of Assembly complex, the
petitioners are asking the relevant authorities to come to the rescue
of the state and preserve the sanctity of its legislative house.

Specifically, Samuel Ademola Adejumobi
(majority-leader); Nafiu Lamidi Baale (deputy-chief whip); Mohammed
Inakoju (chairman, Parliamentary Caucus); Taoreed Abiola, Kazeem
Ayilara, Bamidele Ajibola, Tijani Ademola, Kayode Animashaun, and
Michael Okunlade, who jointly signed the petition wanted full
investigation to the incident and bring all connected to it to book
without further delay. The aggrieved lawmakers particularly called on
the president, and heads of the petitioned security agencies to effect
immediate arrest of the state NURTW chairman, Lateef Salako (a.k.a.
Eleweomo) and his deputy, Mukaila Lamidi (a.k.a. Auxiliary), who led
thugs to the chambers and assaulted some members of the house, stripped
three others naked and injured two others.

Recalling how they had earlier in the
day approached the state police commissioner, Baba Adisa Bolanta, on
the need to beef up security around the chambers to prevent the crisis,
the petitioners said they had got information beforehand that the
speaker had instructed the thugs to “deal with us on sighting us in the
premises of the house.”

Political backing for thugs

The lawmakers, who wanted the speaker
removed over sundry allegations of incompetence and high-handedness,
were suspended same day by the speaker and 15 others members of the 32
member-house. They alleged that despite the assurance on their live
after the earlier report, the policemen deployed by the CP to maintain
law and order around the house, looked the other way when they were
being attacked and chased away by thugs on the order of the speaker.

Accompanied with pictorial evidences,
the three-page petition equally alleged that some lawmakers, who are in
support of the speaker, including Messrs Lekan Ganiyu, Mathew Abioye
and Idowu Akanbi, as well as the state’s deputy governor, Taofeek
Arapaja, the secretary to state government, Olayiwola Olakojo, some
serving commissioners and local government council chairmen, directed
the weapon-wielding thugs to deal with the petitioners mercilessly.

The disgruntled lawmakers said they had
moved out of the state since the attack for personal safety, adding
that the mentioned hoodlums and others like one Sarafa (a.k.a. Oye
Olorun) and Sola Layiwola “are the usual thugs that have been
terrorizing the political elites in Ibadan such as Lekan Balogun and
Alhaji Akinbola of recent.”

Wondering why the police would continue to allow the like of
Elewe-Omo and Auxiliary to continue roaming the state with guns and
other dangerous weapons, the petitioners said, “all efforts to make the
commissioner of police, Alhaji Adisa Bolanta to arrest these thugs have
proved abortive, these thugs now have serious police coverage which is
not safe for the peace of Oyo State.”

Black Stars test nerve against Serbia

Black Stars test nerve against Serbia

Ghana takes centre
stage today as it opens its World Cup campaign against European side,
Serbia, at the Tshwane/ Pretoria stadium in South Africa.

The Black Stars are
one of the six teams carrying the hopes of the continent, believing
that it could shock the rest of the World at the first Mundial on
African soil. The team has faced injury problems with its most
influential player, Michael Essien, being the worst hit.

Regardless of the absence of Essien, coach Milovan Rajevac believes all hope is not lost for his team.

Reaching the finals
of the Nations Cup in Angola in similar circumstances has been a morale
booster for the squad as it struggles for qualification in a group that
also has Germany and Australia

History

Before now, the
only meeting between these sides was a friendly game played out 13
years ago in Seoul, which was won by the former Yugoslavia 3-1.

Serbia (previously
participating as Yugoslavia and then Serbia and Montenegro) have lost
their last four matches played at the FIFA World Cup, suffering
consecutive defeats against Netherlands in 1998 and 2006, before
slipping up against Argentina and Cote d’ Ivoire, also at Germany 2006.

Their last victory dates back to June 25, 1998, when a goal by defender Slobodan Komljenovic secured a 1-0 victory over USA.

Ghana has never drawn a match at the World Cup, having collected two wins and two defeats from their solitary outing in 2006.

Cautious approach

Both teams are
cautious of each other and no one can afford the luxury of underrating
the other. Serbian defender, Aleksander Lukovic in an interview with
FIFA.com extolled the qualities of the Ghanians: “Ghana are a quality
team and many of their players have prominent roles in their respective
clubs.

Meanwhile, Black
Stars midfielders Kwadwo Asamoah and Sulley Muntari have both appealed
for calm and assured Ghanaians that they hope to be ready for Ghana’s
opener against Serbia today, admitting that they were initially
concerned that they might not be fit to face the Europeans in the Group
opener.

However, after a
light run out when Ghana beat a select side from Durban 4-0, Asamoah
expressed optimism about his fitness battle. “I had to miss the last
training session after I took a knock. It was the wisest thing to do.”
The player had to sit out the Stars’ second training session as a
precaution after picking up a knock in training on Monday.

Ghana coach Milovan
Rajevach has revealed little about his starting line up ahead of Sunday
but it would be a major tactical switch if Asamoah does not play behind
in form striker Asamoah Gyan.

Interestingly also,
Milovan Rajevach is the second Serbian coach to lead a team against his
home nation, after Blagoje Vidinic watched his Zaire side mauled 9-0 to
Yugoslavia in 1974. He would be looking forward to prove a point with
his African side.

World Cup head-to-head

Ghana has never faced Serbia, or the former Yugoslavia, at the World Cup.

All-time head-to-head Games played: 1 Yugoslavia: 1 win, 0 losses, 0 draws Ghana: 0 wins, 1 loss, 0 draws

Goals: Yugoslavia 3, Ghana 1 Last match: Ghana faced the former Yugoslavia in Seoul, South Korea in 1997 and lost

Previous Appearances at the world Cup

Serbia: 10 Ghana: 1

Sports

Black Stars test nerve against Serbia

Black Stars test nerve against Serbia

Ghana takes centre
stage today as it opens its World Cup campaign against European side,
Serbia, at the Tshwane/ Pretoria stadium in South Africa.

Regardless of the absence of Essien, coach Milovan Rajevac believes all hope is not lost for his team.

Reaching the finals
of the Nations Cup in Angola in similar circumstances has been a morale
booster for the squad as it struggles for qualification in a group that
also has Germany and Australia

History

Before now, the
only meeting between these sides was a friendly game played out 13
years ago in Seoul, which was won by the former Yugoslavia 3-1.

Their last victory dates back to June 25, 1998, when a goal by defender Slobodan Komljenovic secured a 1-0 victory over USA.

Ghana has never drawn a match at the World Cup, having collected two wins and two defeats from their solitary outing in 2006.

Cautious approach

Ghana coach Milovan
Rajevach has revealed little about his starting line up ahead of Sunday
but it would be a major tactical switch if Asamoah does not play behind
in form striker Asamoah Gyan.

World Cup head-to-head

Ghana has never faced Serbia, or the former Yugoslavia, at the World Cup.

All-time head-to-head Games played: 1 Yugoslavia: 1 win, 0 losses, 0 draws Ghana: 0 wins, 1 loss, 0 draws

Goals: Yugoslavia 3, Ghana 1 Last match: Ghana faced the former Yugoslavia in Seoul, South Korea in 1997 and lost

Previous Appearances at the world Cup

Serbia: 10 Ghana: 1

Sports

Lolade budding in the house

Lolade budding in the house

Organisers expect
up to 450 000 foreign fans in South Africa for the month-long
tournament which started on June 11, while tens of thousands of local
supporters are expected to watch games at fan parks across the country.

Blessed with good
looks and a sweet humble personality, Lolade Adewuyi, 29, a journalist
with TELL magazine, is Nigeria’s representative at the BUD HOUSE, a
reality show that is celebrating the spirit of the World Cup in South
Africa this year. The organizers, Budweiser, have selected a candidate
from each of the 32 countries participating in the tournament to fly
the flag of their countries during the tournament in a production that
is being screened online at the website.

Adewuyi, Nigeria’s
representative, will spend one month on the show alongside other
representatives, talking about the impact of the World Cup and also
touring the beautiful country of South Africa. They will be meeting
with the football stars, attending matches, as well as participating in
interesting events that will showcase their countries’ beautiful
cultures to the world.

At the start of the
tournament, the 16 female and 16 male participants will sleep in rooms
based on the World Cup group phase pools. The two fans of the finalists
will get tickets for the match.

Feeling honoured

Going into the
house as Nigeria’s representative, Adewuyi said he sees it as an
opportunity to show a positive part of the country.

“I feel so honoured
to represent my country in an international production of this nature,”
he said. “It is not every day that one gets an opportunity to represent
150 million people and I want to use it in my own way to show that
Nigerians are among the most intelligent people in the world and as
much as possible we should be respected for our positives rather than
the negatives.” Adewuyi was born in Argungu, present day Kebbi State on
August 17, 1980.

He studied at Aquinas College, Akure, Ondo State as well as at the Obafemi Awolowo University,

Ile Ife, where he
obtained a degree in English Studies. An avid follower of sports,
Adewuyi began his journalism career as a freelance writer for the Arts
desk of one of Nigeria’s daily newspapers. He then moved to OVATION
magazine as a correspondent, where Dele Momodu took him under his wings
as a budding writer. He moved with the magazine to its Ghana office
where he soon became Assistant Editor of the STAR weekly newspaper, a
sister publication.

In Ghana, his
writings were featured in such highly respected papers like the
nationally circulating Daily Graphic, SHOWBIZ and Business Week. In
2008, he moved back home to join TELL magazine as Country
Correspondent, Ghana.

In this position he
has covered the Ghanaian and Togolese elections, as well as many other
top international events. He also wrote in-depth about Ghana’s striking
of oil and the various measures it is taking to ensure a successful use
of its revenue. He has travelled the length and breadth of West Africa,
writing and attending trainings, in the last year.

For his brilliant
performance on the international scene, Adewuyi was promoted to
Assistant Editor by the bosses at TELL in September 2009, after
returning from a Reuters Foundation training in Egypt. This made him
one of the youngest members of the TELL Editorial Board where he has
consistently proved his mettle.

He is an avid
blogger, photographer and reader. His photographs have been used by USA
Today, BBC Focus on Africa Magazine and Ghanabusinessnews.com.

He is a member of
the Twenty Ten, a multidisciplinary project to strengthen African
journalism. He is also an alumnus of the AFP Foundation. In the last
six months, he has contributed to popular football website, Goal.com,
as expert on Nigerian football.

Sports

Finally, the doubters are silenced

Finally, the doubters are silenced

If you an African,
then you have to be proud of what Danny Jordaan and his team have done.
Eight years of painstaking work, of toil and slaving, finally came to
an end two days ago when the First World Cup on African soil kicked off.

It was a great
moment for me seeing the tournament finally begin, despite the cynicism
of a rabidly anti-South African Western media, which waged an
unremitting war against the organisers through skewed publications,
which tended to infer that South Africa could not guarantee the
security of participants as well as visitors to the tournament.

I must commend FIFA
for remaining committed to the project; for resisting subtle and overt
blackmail of Western media. The faith reposed in not only Jordaan and
his team but also in the ability of the South African nation to rise to
the challenge of hosting such a global event, has been repaid. It is
early days yet in the tournament but no one can fail to applaud the
organisation that went into the opening ceremony.

Few opening
ceremonies at previous tournaments can match up to it in terms of
colour and panache. Besides the ceremony, the opening game of the
tournament gave off a whiff of the quality of football to expect at the
tournament. The young South African players and an equally youthful
Mexican side certainly gave football fans that thronged the Soccer City
Stadium much to cheer.

As is often said,
the die is cast and there is no going back for the hosts. In the coming
days, there are going to be challenges to be faced.

The doubters in the
West, whose noses have been rubbed in the dirt by the near flawless
take off of the tournament, will be scouring the different match venues
in search of tales that would reinforce their belief that South Africa
does not have the capacity to ‘swing’ it.

Given the magnitude
of the tournament and the sheer volume of individuals that have arrived
South Africa, there are bound to be developments that may appear
unsavoury but they should not detract from the quality of the
tournament. After all, the bombing at the Centennial Park during the
1996 Atlanta Olympic Games did not dampen the spirits of participants
and spectators alike. The event went on in full swing. Even in the more
extreme case of the Munich 1972 Olympics where terrorists kidnapped and
later killed 11 Israeli athletes, international outcry at the dastardly
act did not lead to the cancellation of the games even when some
countries pulled out.

Weighing in for Nigeria

One of the amazing
things about this tournament is the level of mobilisation of South
Africans by the Jordaan committee. Before the opening day of the
tournament, the fever around Johannesburg and other key cities in the
country was contagious. In every city, people spilled out onto the
streets in the yellow and green colours of the Bafana Bafana, their
national team. It was as pleasing to the eye as it was thought
provoking.

Here in Nigeria,
support for our own Super Eagles has not been as solid as would have
been be expected. In place of patriotic fervour has been mounting
cynicism. A good many Nigerians simply do not believe the Eagles have
it in them to excel at the tournament. While they cannot be blamed
given the team’s recent history, it still does not prevent them from
wishing the team well. Football is played over 90 minutes and sometimes
it does not just come down to talent for a team to win. Sheer grit and
tactical ingenuity on the part of a coach have on occasion propelled
nondescript teams to achieve great things. Greece did it at the 2004
European Championship where they whipped the continent’s top teams to
become champions. Two years before that feat, Korea stunned the world
with an excellent run at the 2002 World Cup, which took them to the
semi-final of the tournament.

Our Eagles may not
have had the best of preparations, no thanks to an incompetent football
federation, which frittered away valuable time and thus left the squad
with little time to play quality friendly matches, still, we have the
players that can turn a game round.

All said, even if
they do not fire on all cylinders in South Africa, they are our flesh
and blood and so we must line up behind them. Let us learn from the
South Africans.

Sports

Marksmen eyeing their targets

Marksmen eyeing their targets

While winning the
World Cup trophy is the desire of all the 32 countries on parade at
football’s greatest showpiece taking place in South Africa, some
strikers at the tournament hope to add more feathers to their caps by
taking home the adidas Golden Shoe award, reserved for players that
bang in the highest number of goals.

The favourites to
win the tournament include the usual suspects: Brazil, Argentina,
Netherlands and Spain but pundits are yet to agree on who will take the
biggest individual honour home.

A list of contenders shows that the battle for the Golden Shoe in South Africa is too close to call.

Miroslav Klose

The German striker
is worthy of mention even though he scored only three league goals for
Bayern Munich last season and has looked out of form in most of
Germany’s World Cup warm-up matches in recent months. At the last
edition of the World Cup on home soil, he won the accolade with five
goals to his credit even though his country only reached the
semi-finals.

Klose also scored
five goals in his debut World Cup in Korea/Japan 2002 giving him a
total of ten goals in World Cup finals and making him the only player
to have scored five or more goals in consecutive World Cups.

He has scored 48 goals in 96 appearances for the Germans, and in South Africa he is sure to add to that total.

Wayne Rooney

The Manchester
United striker was the toast of many football fans last season scoring
26 Premier League goals before cupping a groin injury.

He would making his second World Cup appearance this year after entering the 2006 edition not fully fit.

If any of Fabio
Capello’s men can emulate Mexico 86 adidas Golden Shoe winner Gary
Lineker it looks more likely to be the Manchester United forward.

He currently has 25
goals in 60 games for the Three Lions and should add several goals to
his total depending upon how far his team can go in the tournament.

Cristiano Ronaldo

The Portuguese
Points-man is the world’s most expensive player and in normal
circumstances the odds of being a top scorer would be high.

However a dip in
form for the national team in which he failed to score a single goal
en-route qualification for the World Cup finals is worrisome.

Ronaldo is a player many do not like, but everyone has to respect his abundant talent and display on the pitch.

However a tough
group containing Brazil and Ivory Coast could send him home early. It
is unlikely he will score many against these sides but there is the
possibility of hitting several against North Korea.

Luis Fabiano

He will likely be
Brazil’s main candidate to finish top of the goal scoring charts having
hit five goals in five games in the team’s FIFA Confederation’s Cup
victory last year.

Fabiano has scored
25 goals in just 36 national team appearances for the Brazilians. The
only thing that might prevent him from taking home the Golden Boot are
his Brazilian teammates who include several other top goal scorers like
Robinho, Kaka and the likes. There might not be enough ball to go
around for a stacked Brazilian squad.

Lionel Messi

Argentina perhaps
has the most potent attack on paper at this edition of the World Cup
with players like Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain – who outscored
teammate Ronaldo – and Sergei Aguero all in its fold.

However many tip
the Barcelona whiz kid; Messi to emerge as tournament highest goal
scorer if only he can replicate his awesome goal scoring prowess in
Barcelona at the national team. He has 85 goals in 2 seasons at
Barcelona; however his 13 goals in 44 appearances for Argentina does
not inspire so much confidence.

Nevertheless he is
still unstoppable and could tear defences apart making Argentina to
rule the world with a third World Cup win. If he does achieve the feat,
he would be following the footsteps of Argentina’s previous winners;
Mario Kempes – six goals for 1978’s champions and Guillermo Stabile –
eight in the inaugural event in 1930.

David Villa

With Fernado Tores
not 100% fit going into the World Cup, Villa might be entrusted with
the goal scoring duties for Spain who many regard as strong favourites
to win the World Cup.

The 28-year-old
Spaniard made his mark at Euro 2008 when he scored four goals in four
games, propelling his team to the win. He’s the country’s second
highest goal scorer with 36 goals, just eight behind Raul.

His 21 La Liga
goals for Valencia last season earned him a dream move to Barcelona.
With a robust midfield sure to supply the need passes the Barcelona new
signing can sure dream of carting away not just the World Cup trophy
but also the Golden Boots award if Spain indeed goes far in 2010 as
expected.

Didier Drogba

After initially
sustaining an injury which seemed that would knock him out of the first
World Cup on Africa soil; Drogba is set to make his second successive
World Cup appearance.

Emerging as the top
scorer in the English Premiership last season is no mean feat as Drogba
over time have proved to be crucial to both club and country; scoring
vital goals for both.

He is an exciting
player who is a constant threat to score for Cote d’Ivoire side that
some say they have a good chance to advancing out of group play. He has
scored 43 goals in just 66 games for his national team-an amazing
total. If his team advances deep into the tournament, he might very
well take home the golden boot.

Samuel Eto’o

Though Eto’o has
only managed one goal in two World Cup finals, he is quite capable of
mixing it with the best if Cameroon gives him adequate service.

Inter Milan forward
Samuel Eto’o is the best player on the Cameroon team; winning the
African footballer of the year award a record three successive times.
Eto’o has proved himself on the continent in several ways and he is
currently the all time highest goal scorer in the Africa Nations Cup.

He has scored 44 goals in 94 games for the Indomitable Lions and will surely add to those accomplishments in South Africa.

Yakubu Aiyegbeni

A surprise inclusion no doubt, Aiyegbeni is the current Super Eagles leading scorer with over twenty goals to his credit.

The Everton striker
has already made known his intention to make history at the World Cup
as the first African to win the Golden Boot award when he recently
spoke with his club TV (Everton TV). A tall dream no doubt, his current
rankings as one of top scorers in the English Premiership might count
as hostilities continue in the World Cup.

Although the top
scorer is most likely to come for a side that makes it at least to the
quarter finals of the World Cup, odd things can happen.

Russian striker,
Oleg Salenko scored five goals in one match against Cameroon in USA
1994 and was joint top scorer despite his side Russia bowing out in the
first round.

The above are just
some of the contenders, there are of course many more that could throw
in one or two surprises to emerge as the tournament’s goal king.

Sports

Spain is World Cup’s most expensive squad

Spain is World Cup’s most expensive squad

Ask the average
football fan who they feel will win the World Cup and the answer you’ll
most likely get, other than their country of origin which is normal for
those with a great dose of patriotism coursing through their veins,
will be Spain or Brazil.

A lot of neutrals
will even go for England and their army of Premier League stars, as
well as Argentina, affably led by the mercurial Lionel Messi. Some
would even go as far as staking some money on Raymond Domenech and his
under-performing French team.

But it should come
as no surprise to most observers that the above mentioned teams are
most people’s favourites for the title in South Africa, as they
undoubtedly possess the best collection of players in the tournament.
Not only are they the best, they are also the ones with the greatest
market value; the top earners in the game.

Monetary value

If the monetary
value of the players taking part in the World Cup is the only criterion
for deciding who will end up claiming the trophy on July 11, then
European champions Spain should be carting home their first ever World
Cup title as the combined value of the players they have on parade in
South Africa, led by Barcelona’s Xavi Hernandez, is just over half a
billion Euro, which is much more than the value of the Brazilian team,
who will have to be content with second place.

France, with a
combined value of 450 million Euros will settle for third spot, with
England a very close fourth, while current world champions Italy are in
the fifth position. The figures which took into consideration the
appreciation and depreciation in players’ values, as well as their
salaries and other incomes, placed both the Super Eagles and Ghana’s
Black Stars in the 14th spot with a value of 115 million Euros each,
one spot beneath Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions who are the second
highest ranked African side behind the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire who
are just outside the top ten with a value of 180million Euros.

Algeria are ranked
a distant 24th while South Africa are only ahead of New Zealand and
North Korea have to be content with the bottom two positions of the 32
teams at the World Cup.

Capello is don The
South African coach Carlos Alberto Parreira is however the ninth
highest paid coach in the tournament with an estimated annual income of
1.2 million Euros which is a whole lot better than 170,000 Euros his
North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-Hun earns. It’s a figure that’s even
better than those of Argentina’s Diego Maradona and his compatriot
Carlos Dunga who are both on an annual salary of 800,000 Euros.

But Parreira’s
earnings, which is joint ninth with those of his contemporaries from
Australia, Cote d’Ivoire and Mexico, becomes small fries when compared
to those of England’s Fabio Capello who pockets a cool 8.8 million
Euros per annum.

Italy’s Marcelo
Lippi is a distant second behind his countryman Capello followed by
Germany’s Joachim Low and Super Eagles’ Lars Lagerback but the figures
are only based on the gross annual salary of each coach, excluding
bonuses or endorsement deals which, if had been taken into
consideration, would have seen France’s Domenech placed significantly
higher than the 20th position he occupies as he receives a bonus of
30,000 Euros per win and 15,000 Euros for a draw and also received a
prize of 1.1 million Euros following his side’s qualification for the
World Cup.