NIGERIA In The World Cup: The Immediate Hurdles For Keshi And His Men Come In The First Group Stage!

    ATTENTION now turns to the next friendly against Scotland on the 28th of May. It is an encounter where we shall be seeing 4-4-1-1 formation experimented with once again by Keshi, and perhaps adopted as the team gets ready for the Mundial in Brazil.

The immediate hurdles for Keshi and his men come in the first group stage.

Two teams that possess tremendous quality in attack but not too strong defensive line -Bosnia and Argentina –are the two strong teams in the group. Bearing this in mind, it is believed the newly-tested formation of Keshi against Mexico will be the best approach to start the adventure in Brazil. 

Against Mexico in the friendly, Keshi surprised everyone for opting for a 4-4-1-1 with a deep central midfield and pace on the flanks. This 4-4-1-1 shows the tactical flexibility of Keshi, and allows for a deep-lying central midfielder and a swift winger on the flanks. Ramon Azeez, John Ogu, Sunday Mba, Lukman Haruna or even Joel Obi (if fit) can be drafted in the deep role, offering support and strength in depth.

  

Ahmed Musa and Victor Moses are suspects to be on the flanks, taking into consideration their speed which can pose a huge threat to Bosnia and Argentina’s defence. This will create better opportunities with a compact midfield and good counter attack. 

The deeper position will allow the central players to sit in front of the back four in a compact position to deny the opposition forward and midfield space. This will afford the wingers leeway to punish teams on the break.

Victor Moses | The Lethal Weapon

The symphonic partnership of Godfrey Oboabona and Kenneth Omeruo in the heart of defence can help the team; their adaptation and understanding worked quite well during AFCON. Meanwhile, the new boy on the block, Leon Balogun, and the strong Azubike Egwuekwe can be reliable backups. 

Vincent Enyeama, the 31-year-old with 20 clean sheets for Lille this season, will obviously retain the number one berth with Austin Ejide and Chigozie Agbim as the second and third choices respectively.

Goalkeeping may not be an issue to bother about for now. 

Considering the striking force, which used to be a huge issue, Keshi may have just found his way to making lemonade with the available lemons.

Now, when you think about the striking force of the team, the regulars will first come to mind: Emmamuel Emenike, Brown Ideye, Shola Ameobi, Nnamdi Oduamadi, Obinna Nsofor, Shola Ameobi, Bright Dike and the new faces Imoh Ezekiel and Michel Uchebo.

While these strong, agile, and skilful players are even still fighting to be in the frontline, we may ask a big question; what are the chances of Peter Odemwiegie and Ike Uche? Considering only current playing form and experience, there could well be slots for both players in Keshi’s team; it may however be a tough decision for the Big Boss.

In-form Odemwingie | A case for inclusion

Keshi has used his man-management skills to build a team of disciplined, resilient and hard-to-beat men who always hunger for the result with an all-positive disposition.

In this light, I wish to summarise my submissions/suggestions as such; 

• Keshi should adopt the 4-4-1-1 formation in order to split the defence of the teams in our group. 

• Players in good form in their respective clubs should be invited (should be the wish of every coach anyway).  

• Lastly, the NFF should leave Keshi to do his job; every possible interference should be absolutely avoided. 

Edited by Lashley Oladigboolu
 Credit: Goal.Com Nigeria

Maku Advocates Greater Citizens’ Participation In War Against Terrorism

Maku Advocates Greater Citizens’ Participation In War Against Terrorism

The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, on Tuesday called for the commitment and collective will of citizens to enable Nigeria to overcome terrorism in the country.

Maku made the call in Abuja when he received a delegation from the Nigeria Centenary Lapel Pin Project.

He said that the Federal Government, through the military, had done so much to curtail the attacks on innocent citizens.

Maku called for the cooperation of all citizens to win the fight.

The minister urged Nigerians never to succumb to the antics of terrorists or their sponsors, irrespective of the unwarranted attacks on them.
“It is now the duty of every citizen to report the activities of people in their communities that they do not understand.

“The situation that is facing us today is quite difficult; this is a war by a few criminals against all Nigerians and this means we need to work harder as government and citizens.
“We will overcome this challenge but we must have that spirit of resoluteness as a people; our collective strength is one that will overcome everything,’’ he said.
Maku also expressed optimism that Nigeria would emerge stronger and that the challenges that threatened the economic base of a section of the country would soon be addressed.

The minister said that terrorism was not peculiar to Nigeria, stressing that other nations across the world had, in one way or the other, been plagued by activities of terrorists.
He said in spite of the setbacks, Nigeria had recorded tremendous progress in the past 100 years.
He also appealed to citizens not to despair or run down the polity because of the situation.
“Terrorism is not a Nigerian phenomenon; it is a global phenomenon that was imported by some of our people but we will overcome it with time.

“I know how our citizens feel; they feel depressed; they feel discouraged but I believe we will definitely overcome it.
“It is a passing phase but with the work that we are doing and with the cooperation of citizens, we shall overcome it,’’ he said.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr Chuks Chilaka, said that the centenary project was a private sector initiative aimed at reawakening the patriotic spirit in every Nigerian.
According to Chilaka, the pin, carrying the centenary logo, depicts homogeneity, hard work and unity of the Nigerian nation.

He said that every Nigerian was expected to wear the pin as a mark of honour and patriotism to the nation.
He said that the organisation had ordered for the production of over 500,000 pins to be sold to Nigerians, irrespective of their affiliation, as part of Nigeria’s centenary celebration.
The minister was decorated with a gold plated pin as a mark of his endorsement of the project.

 NAN

— April 22, 2014


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' I’m Ready To Expose Sponsors Of Boko Haram ' -Goni

I’m Ready To Expose Sponsors Of Boko Haram – Adamawa Clairvoyant  

A popular clairvoyant in Adamawa State, Alhaji Alhassan Mohammed Goni, a.k.a. AMG, has threatened to expose the sponsors of Boko Haram insurgency if  the group does not suspend the current bloodletting and hostilities in the country within two weeks. 

Alhassan Mohammed Goni

The spiritualist expressed sympathy for President Goodluck Jonathan, saying the president is a good man and those that are targeting his administration will fail woefully.
He said having been disturbed by the bloodletting and seemingly inexorable hostilities by the group, he deemed it fit to come forward, and warned that if those behind Boko Haram fail to change their ways, he will soon expose them.
Goni added that among those sponsoring Boko Haram activities are top politicians and traditional rulers  with the sole aim of causing confusion in the country.
He said he was aware of the various nocturnal meetings held by the sect before launching attacks but was not able to curtail their attacks as he had not been permitted to do so.
“My vision always tells me whenever the Boko Haram are about to launch attacks but I was always incapacitated to stop them because I was not given express permission by the authorities to do so; but through my intervention, the intensity of the attacks is minimal”, he said.
Goni said though the present administration is facing security challenges, the president will weather the storm because he means well for the country.
He condemned the recent bombing in Abuja and urged government to take more security measures like mounting of CCTV cameras.
He called for the probe of the Chinese company handling the installation of CCTV cameras in Abuja, adding that the contract should be revoked and handed over to a more competent company.
Goni also called for more attention to agriculture as a major source of employment opportunity and the need for local government autonomy to fast track grassroots empowerment.
“Government should also look at ways of giving employment to civilian JTF in the armed forces, police and other para military organizations so that they can continue to actively contribute their quota in protecting their father land”,  Goni said.

By: Mohammed Ismail
 — April 23, 2014