Coach of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi, has revealed that were feisty exchanges in the dressing room, after the 1-1 draw against Burkina Faso on Monday.

Keshi saw his team – who ended the game with 10 men – concede the equaliser, with the last kick of the game and he has now said he didn’t need to scream at them, as they essentially did so themselves.

“They did the job themselves. After the match they shouted, they quarrelled, they told themselves the truth,” he said. “But by the time we got to the hotel, they were friends again, playing tennis, table soccer and teasing each other.

“So that let me know that they are up for it. They know when they make mistakes and what they need to do to rectify it.”

However, looking ahead to Friday’s game against Zambia, Keshi said his team have enough motivation to defeat the defending champions.

he said: “They are angry at themselves for the first result. They know they dropped the ball and they want to make amends.

“We don’t expect it to be an easy game, but the players know what they have to do.”

Wednesday, Jan 26, 2012 was one of such sad days when one woke up with the news that death has dealt the Nigerian entertainment industry a blow. That was actually the day Lekan Oladipo a.k.a Giorgio Lekinson, a foundation member of the Yoruba genre of Nigerian home videos lost the battle to cancer of the lung.
Interestingly, Lekinson’s disappearance from the movie scene before he died early last year remains the reason some movie buffs still find it hard to believe that he’s dead! It would be recalled that Lekinson, who would forever be remembered for his slangs and good interpretation of the role of fraudster in most Yoruba films, battled with drug related problems and when family and friends thought Giorgio Lekinson had cheated death, the gifted actor passed on.
Barely a year ago and when many people may be wondering if Lekinson left a grown up child who will step into his shoes, it’s amazing that Babatunde Oladipo, the eldest son, has picked up the trade where his father left it. With just three years in the industry, Armani Arante as Yabatech’s graduate of Business Administration is popularly called, is leaving no stone unturned to hit the spotlight at one shot. Apart from picking roles in popular films like ‘Omolabake’, ‘Oko Obinrin’, ‘Figurine’ among few others, Armani Arante is getting set to hit location for his personal film project that may come after premiering Irosun Meji, Lekinson’s last movie which he never lived to released.

Recalling how he gets into acting, “Apart from the fact that I picked after my father, to be a successful actor has been my childhood ambition but my father do tell me to finish my education before going to acting. My passion for acting grew when I started following him to movie locations. While in higher institution, I opted for Business Administration because of my love for banking job but life later played me its card as I’m back to my first love which is acting,” Armani said.

 


Little or nothing might have been read about the life and death of great Lekinson, Armani revealed the private parts of his father. “It’s no doubt that my father was a ladies’ man but it may shock you that my mother remained his only wife whom they had two kids together, I and my younger brother, Abiodun. My father’s drug problem could be traced back to when he went to India to study acting. On his return from India my mother noticed his change of attitude and one day she caught him sniffing a white substance suspected to be cocaine which led to a serious argument and fight.

“All efforts by family members to persuade him to give up on the bad habit proved abortive. This affected his growing acting career and he was shut out of the scene for some years before he returned as a King in the old popular home video titled ‘Koto Aiye’, in 2002. The dope thing messed up his career before he later quit.

In 2007 Lekinson, who was a board member of Osun State’s Art and Culture during the time of Governor Oyinlola, was diagnosed of cancer of the lung. We thought he would die but Lekinson survived the terminal illness that left him bed ridden for two years. He fully recovered and bounced back in 2009 before he eventually died in 2012.

“It was a natural death; my father did not die of any sickness as reported. On that sad day, Lekinson complained of tiredness and contemplating of going to the hospital the next day but his elder brother encouraged him to go that day which he agreed, but he died on his way to the hospital,” Armani revealed.

Speaking further about the life and time of Lekinson who featured in countless numbers of popular home videos, son said, “He was a trained actor who doesn’t take nonsense. If I could recollect, the last thing he told me was, I should be wary of unnecessary intimacy, to always be myself and Lekinson told me point blank that he needed a grandson. At the moment, we are planning a one year remembrance of his death and probably released his last personal film titled ‘Irosun Meji’,” Armani concluded.

 

A group, under the aegis of Middle Belt Dialogue (MBD) yesterday accused President Goodluck Jonathan of allegedly betraying the people of the area.

MBD in a communique issued in Kaduna, Wednesday, lamented that in spite of the massive support the people of the Middle Belt gave Jonathan in the 2011 elections, he has decided to turn his back at them to appease those who had opposed him.

The statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emma Endazo on behalf of the Central Committee, also accused Jonathan of refusing to offer assistance to the region traumatised by the post election violence after having voted for him.

The statement reads in part: “Jonathan has gone out of his way to placate those who vigorously, albeit violently, opposed his election as President, and promised to make the country ungovernable, should he win the 2011 election.

”The bulk of the 369,198 votes the President got in the 2011 elections were from Zuru area. After his swearing in ceremony President Goodluck Jonathan had nominated the then National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Haliru Bello and the people of Zuru did not bat an eyelid, and upon Dr Haliru’s resignation, Brig. Gen. Bitrus Usher was considered as a possible replacement.

”When this became public knowledge, the Chairman of the PDP in Kebbi State, Alhaji Mansur Shehu, objected to his possible nomination, saying that General Ushe was not acceptable to the party because they (in the PDP) did not know him as bonafide PDP member, in spite of the fact that it is public knowledge that the General is a card carrying member of the PDP and actively worked to ensure that President Jonathan got the 36 per cent of the votes during the April 2011 elections.

’’It is now clear that President Jonathan denied General Ushe, his supporter the ministerial nomination because he is a Middle Belter, a Dakarkar by tribe and to a Christian!

”The only sin of the Zuru people is that they are a minority like their brothers and sisters in Gombe, Yobe, Niger, Adamawa, Bauchi, Kaduna, Borno, Kogi among others, whose support and vote for President Jonathan has been rewarded by the denial of political appointments,” the statement added.

A 200 level chemistry student of the Lagos State University, Hunjah Mausi was killed by a commercial bus driver on Saturday.

We reliably gathered that Mausi was knocked down by a reckless commercial bus driver while returning from the post office near LASU.

The driver was allegedly driving against traffic rues when he hit the student.

Expressing their overwhelming displeasure over Mausi’s death, LASU students staged a protest on Monday.

“But for the timely intervention of Students’ Union leaders, the protest would have been violent” a source who pleaded anonymity claimed.

“There was tension in the school this morning as some of our colleagues vowed to stage a protest. They said they would damage any bus plying the wrong route or driving against traffic.

“We were scared but thank God for the intervention of the union leaders.” He said.

Confirming the incident, the Public Relations Officer, LASU, Mr. Stephen Adeleke, disclosed that the driver of the bus had been arrested by the police.

He said “It is disheartening to experience such a loss. But we leave everything to God. We heard that she was crossing the road with her friends when the accident occurred.

“We are law-abiding citizens and do not want any form of protest. We sincerely sympathise with her family and hope that God will give them the fortitude to bear the loss. We also urge the students to bear the loss and avoid any form of crisis.”

Mausi who was confirmed dead at the Ikeja hospital where she was rushed to, will be buried on Tuesday (today).

 

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline in Arepo, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, was on Wednesday set ablaze by suspected vandals.

The fire was allegedly caused by some suspected vandals who invaded the area in the early hours of Wednesday, and perforated the pipelines which led to an outbreak of fire. The situation was also compounded by another inferno, which occurred during an exchange of gunfire between men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and vandals around Magboro. Spokesman of the state command of the NSCDC, Mr. Kareem Olanrewaju, confirmed the fire at Arepo.


According to him, the state Commandant, Aboluwoye Akinwande, had already visited the scene, noting that the incessant attacks on the NSCDC men by vandals had necessitated the deployment of more armed personnel to the troubled area.

Southampton have parted ways with manager Nigel Adkins, just two days after the gutsy 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Although the club had started the season badly, they have picked up form of lata and only lost two defeats in their last 12 League games – a run that included draws with Arsenal and Chelsea and victories over Reading and Aston Villa.

The club’s executive chairman, Nicola Cortese, has named Mauricio Pochettino as the new manager of the south coast club.

“This decision has been made with the long-term ambitions of Southampton Football Club in mind,” Cortese explained. “Whilst we acknowledge the contribution Nigel has made during the past two years, for the club to progress and achieve our long-term targets a change was needed.

“Mauricio is a well-respected coach of substantial quality who has gained a reputation as an astute tactician and excellent man manager. I have every confidence that he will inspire our talented squad of players to perform at the highest possible level.

“He also shares my belief that the most successful clubs are built by nurturing young players through a development system that provides a clear path to the first team, thereby creating a culture that keeps them at the club for the long term.
‘This is an approach he has employed with great success in the past and I look forward to him bringing that experience and expertise to Southampton.”

Pochettino, whose first game will be on Monday against Everton said: “This is the kind of opportunity that any coach would relish. Southampton is a club with great heritage, and an even more exciting future. There is a clear vision to take the club to a new era of sustained success in the Premier League, and beyond, which I’m delighted to be part of.”