Historic: All African World Cup-Bound Teams To Be Handled By Local Coaches

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August 30, 2022

Presence of five local coaches at the World Cup a source of pride for Africa

The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will be historic for the African continent as all five nations which have booked a ticket for the quadrennial extravaganza will be handled by local coaches.

Morocco have appointed Walid Regragui at the Atlas Lions head coach and now, he will join a stellar cast of four other African coaches to lead their countries. This is a massive step for the growth of African coaches, who have now borne the courage to take over at the highest level.

Walid Regragui, Morocco

The 47-year old, a former Moroccan international who amassed 45 caps for the national team was recently appointed by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) as coach of the Atlas Lions, taking over from Vahid Halilhodžić who had helped the team secure qualification.

He takes over the national team after a successful season in the Moroccan top flight where he led Wydad Athletic Club to the CAF Champions League title and the local championship as well.

For the World Cup, Morocco have been drawn in Group F and will face off with Croatia, Belgium and Canada.

Aliou Cissé, Senegal

Senegal, the reigning African champions, have had a local coach since 2015 when Aliou Cissé was handed the mantle. The decision paid off eight years later when the former national team captain led them to their first ever Africa Cup of Nations title and was also named the coach of the year at the CAF Awards in July.

He will lead the Lions of Teranga to a World Cup for the second consecutive time, having led them to qualification for the 2018 showpiece in Russia.

The Senegalese earned qualification after turning round a first leg loss to Egypt’s Pharaohs, then coached by Portuguese tactician Carlos Queiroz. They won 3-1 on post-match penalties following a 1-1 aggregate draw.

Rigobert Song, Cameroon

Appointed on February 28, 2022, Rigobert Song goes down in history as the second Cameroonian coach to have helped the Indomitable Lions qualify for the global showpiece.

The first Cameroonian to sail the team to the World Cup was the late Léonard Nseke, leading the team to qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Song’s Cameroon qualified for Qatar after overturning a 1-0 first leg defeat at the hands of Algeria to win 2-1 in the corresponding fixture in Algiers and qualify on the away goals rule. Karl Toko Ekambi scored the vital goal in added time to take the Lions to Qatar.

The qualification for the World Cup proved to be the result he needed to silence the doubters who had already queried the decision to hire him.

Jalel Kadri, Tunisia

Local boy Jalel Kadri helped Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles to the World Cup for the sixth time in their history.

Kadri was appointed head coach of the Tunisian national team just after they were eliminated from the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon by Burkina Faso. He embarked on a quick rebuild mission and helped Tunisia rise from that disappointment and qualify for the World Cup.

The Tunisians waded off the young side of Mali to qualify with a slim 1-0 aggregate score.

He becomes the third local tactician to help Tunisia qualify for the World Cup after Abdelmajid Chetali (1978) and Nabil Maâloul (1998).

Otto Addo, Ghana

Ghana’s Otto Addo showed brave coaching mettle to aid the Black Stars to the World Cup after victory over the highly fancied Nigeria.

The former International was named head coach of the Ghanaian team shortly after they were eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations in the group stages, taking over from Milovan Rajevac.

A 1-1 draw in Abuja after a 0-0 draw at home in Kumasi earned Ghana a ticket to the World Cup against all odds.

The tactician, who is also an assistant coach at German Bundesliga club Dortmund managed to put up a perfect tactical plan to outshine a hugely talented Nigerian squad and now has everything to prove when he leads the Ghanaian side out in Qatar.

Who is Walid Regragui the new head coach of the Atlas Lions?

Born in Corbeil-Essonne, in the Southern suburbs of France, Walid Regragui, 46, started his career playing for several French clubs including Toulouse, Ajaccio, Dijon and Grenoble, He earned his caps for the Moroccan national team as well.

After retiring from football, Regragui began his coaching career as an assistant coach with the Moroccan national team in 2012-2013 under Rachid Taoussi. He went on to become the head coach of FUS Rabat until 2020 when he moved to Qatar to coach top tier side Al Duhail.

In August 2021, he returned to Morocco and took over as the head coach of Wydad Club Athletic, helping them to the league title as well as the CAF Champions League in his maiden campaign.

The presence of the five African coaches at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar represents a giant step towards the development of African football.

This is enough proof that local expertise can also work well when and if given a chance. This will be an opportunity for the whole world to discover the ability of African tacticians and also a nod of approval to the training program for African coaches at the Pro License of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

The program launched for the first time in 2018 aims to obtain the highest certification of the CAF coach education system, the qualification of top level coaches in the world.

The said license is strictly reserved for coaches actively exercising at a professional level, having demonstrated a certain level of performance and success, and having previously acquired a CAF A license or an equivalent qualification recognized by CAF.

More and more African coaches have shown enthusiasm at work both in CAF competitions with first division clubs or in the league, as well as in national teams.

Serena Williams Puts Off Retirement With U.S. Open First Round Win

By

Emenike Agu

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August 30, 2022

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US. Open – Flushing Meadows, New York, United States – August 29, 2022 Serena Williams of the U.S. during her first round match against Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic

Serena Williams signalled she is not quite ready for retirement advancing to the second round of the U.S. Open on Monday with a scrappy 6-3 6-3 win over Danka Kovinic.

The victory over the 80th ranked Kovinic, just her second this year, will be a confidence boost for Williams but the path to a record equalling 24th Grand Slam now gets treacherous.

Waiting in the wings is Estonian second seed Anett Kontaveit, who breezed past Jaqueline Cristian 6-3 6-0.

Williams indicated her intention to retire in a Vogue article in early August, saying she was “evolving away from tennis” but never confirming the U.S. Open as her final event.

For tennis fans, however, the message was clear, the U.S. Open would be where she would take her final bow.

Could there be an encore?

The former-world number one has played coy even refusing to rule out next year’s Australia Open.

But in a strange post-match ceremony celebrating her career, which was not yet finished, Williams gave the clearest sign yet that the U.S. Open will indeed be her last tournament and expanded on that later in her press conference.

“It’s extremely difficult still because I absolutely love being out there,” said Williams. “The more tournaments I play, I feel like the more I can belong out there.

“But it’s time for me, you know, to evolve to the next thing.”

Pressed if the U.S. Open was definitely her last event Williams again stepped back from the brink.

“I’ve been pretty vague about it, right,” smiled Williams. “I’m going to stay vague because you never know.”

A montage of Williams career played before she appeared on court that left the door open a crack for a return some day, “if you ever decide to return Queen your throne will be waiting” ended the video.

A defiant Williams, however, made it clear she was not giving up that throne just yet.

SPECIAL ENERGY

There is always excitement on opening night at Flushing Meadows but on Monday the teeming stadium crackled with a special energy from the moment Williams appeared on court decked out in a shimmering black robe and specially designed diamond encrusted shoes.

The outfit may have sparkled more than the 40-year-old American’s play but it did not matter to a jam-packed Arthur Ashe Stadium as Williams’ fighting edge remained razor sharp even if her serve and ground strokes were not.

“It’s so important to give your all,” Williams told the adoring crowd. “I’ve been down and out so many times, in the public eye.

“I just want people to be inspired by my story.

“I’m from Compton, California… and I made it.”

Certainly there was no more fitting place to bring the curtain down on one of tennis’s most phenomenal careers than in a city that has been in her corner from the very beginning, fuelling runs to six U.S. Open crowns.

The magnitude of the moment was not lost on the 23,000 fans, including, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, designer Vera Wang, director Spike Lee and others who packed into Arthur Ashe not expecting to see greatness but to celebrate it.

Having been world number one for 319 weeks, Williams arrived in New York ranked below 600 and unseeded.

Even with Williams far from her best the odds were stacked against the 27-year-old from Montenegro.

Playing in her 21st U.S. Open, Williams has never lost in the first round and her victory over Kovinic was her 106th at Flushing Meadows.

While Kovinic has been enjoying the best Grand Slam season of her career reaching the third round of both the Australian and French Open, she had not won a single match since Roland Garros.

As play got underway it was Williams showing signs of nerves, piling up the double faults as Kovinic got in front 3-2.

But Williams, as she has done so many times, lifted her game when she needed to, sweeping the next four games to snatch the first set.

Now in charge, Williams would not let it slip away in the second set, breaking to go up 3-2, and with match point and the crowd on its feet, she danced in delight as Kovinic’s return hit the net.

Once Upon A Time – August 30 – 1963 – Hotline Communication Link Between The Pentagon And Kremlin Installed

By

Angel Gimalo

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August 30, 2022

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1146 European leaders outlaw the crossbow, intending to end war for all time

1363 Beginning of the Battle of Lake Poyang; two Chinese rebel leaders Chen Youliang and Zhu Yuanzhang are pitted against each other in what was one of the largest naval battles in history during Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty

1590 Tokugawa Ieyasu enters Edo Castle (Traditional Japanese date: August 1, 1590)

1682 William Penn leaves England to sail to the New World

1862 Second Battle of Bull Run in Manassas, Virginia, ends with a Confederate victory over Union forces

1914 Battle of Tannenberg (WWI) in East Prussia ends in destruction of the Russian Second Army with 122,000-170,000 killed, injured or captured by the German 8th Army led by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff

1928 Jawaharlal Nehru requests independence of India

HISTORICAL EVENTS TODAY

TODAY IN FILM & TV

1976 Tom Brokaw becomes news anchor of NBC’s “Today Show”

TODAY IN MUSIC

1968 1st record released on Apple label in UK is The Beatles single “Hey Jude”

TODAY IN SPORT

1905 Detroit Tigers future Baseball HOF center fielder Ty Cobb makes his MLB debut, doubling off Jack Chesbro in a 5-3 win over the NY Highlanders at Bennett Park, Detroit

MORE FACTS….

1963 Hotline communication link between the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and the Kremlin in Moscow installed. Often known as the “red telephone” no phones were ever used, relying instead on Teletype equipment, fax machines and most recently secure email.

1979 1st recorded occurrence of a comet hitting the sun, releases energy equal to one million hydrogen bombs

FAMOUS WEDDINGS

1846 Author and Christian pioneer Ellen G. White (18) weds preacher James Springer White (25) in Portland, Maine

1940 CBS news correspondent Mike Wallace (22) weds Norma Kaphan in Brookline, Massachusetts

1953 Future NYC mayor David Dinkins marries Joyce Burrows in NYC

Group Calls For Adequate Motivation Of Teachers, Highlights Their Role

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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August 30, 2022

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Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has called for adequate motivation of teachers, saying they are regarded as the determining factors of every educational policies of any country.

The Policy Advisor, Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA), Odinaka Ahanonu, made the call in an interview on Monday in Abuja.

Ahanonu said that the motivation level of teachers all over the world had been found to be a significant factor in influencing the delivery of quality education.
She said that this invariably affected the attainment of learning outcomes in classrooms internationally.

“Teachers determine what ultimately happens to educational policies, to curriculum guidelines, the use which teaching-learning materials are put, and in fact, it determines the fate of a nation’s huge investment in education.

“The fundamental objectives and principles of state policy (Chapter two of the Nigerian Constitution , Section 16) expressly states this.
“It states that it shall be the duty and responsibility of all organs of government to ensure that the control of state economy is directed to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice, equality of status and opportunity and a reasonable minimum wage.

“This underpins Nigerian teachers long drawn demand for the implementation of the Teachers Salary Structure,” she said.

Ahanonu said that low salaries, lack of fringe benefits, poor working conditions, poor teachers’ public image, lack of job satisfaction, lack of retirement benefits, among others contribute to lack of motivation for teachers.

According to her, all these underscored the fact that no education system can rise above the quality of its teachers.

“Achieving the SDG 2030 goals will depend on achieving basic education of good quality that will depend on retaining and recruiting well qualified and good remuneration for teachers,” she said.

She said of importance was also education infrastructure as an important factor in determining the quality of learning and students being churned out.

Ahanonu advised that a monitoring team should be set up that would ensure that education fund was spent in a transparent and accountable manner.
She said this would amount to a strong coordination, communication and consultation between different government line agencies such as development partners, CSOs and the media to ensure policy coherence across all sectors.

Federal Govt. Needs Time To Implement Agreements – SSANU, NASU

By

Rhoda Onuzulike

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August 29, 2022

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The University of Ilorin (Unilorin) chapters of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) have said they suspended the industrial actions to give the Federal Government time to implement the agreements it reached with the university workers.

The Unilorin-SSANU Chairman, Naheem Falowo, stated this on Monday while fielding questions from newsmen in Ilorin.

Faliwo explained that the decision to suspend the protracted industrial dispute was informed by the need to enable the federal government some time to implement the agreements comprehensively.

He noted that government accepted to put machinery in motion for the onward implementation of all the eight-point demands before it.

The SSANU chairman, who is also staff of the Bursary Department of Unilorin, explained that the government accepted to work towards a remarkable improvement in the welfare of staff of state-owned universities as demanded by the unions.

Also speaking, the NASU Chairman of Unilorin, Ibrahim Suberu, said the federal government equally promised in the agreements voluntarily signed with the unions to implement the agreed percentage increment in the salaries of university staff without any exception as from Sept. 1, 2022. Suberu also disclosed that the government has approved the release of N50 billion for the payment of earned allowances.

He added that the unions were assured the money would be shared among federal government-owned universities for onward payment to all their staff members and without any form of discrimination in its disbursement between the academic staff and their non-teaching counterparts as witnessed in the past.

The NASU chairman pointed out that the sustained efforts of the unions also eventuated in the federal government’s realisation of the absurdities that have characterised the implementation of the Integrated Personnel Payment Information System (IPPIS).

He added that one of the successes of the strike was that the government was now poised more than ever before to have a rethink on the IPPIS as it has empowered a committee chaired by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Issa Pantami.

According to him, this is to harmonise the payment platforms jointly proposed by SSANU and NASU and the one put forward by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

CDC seeks timely Detection, Response to curb Polio

By

Cleopatra Okohai

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August 29, 2022

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The United States Government, through its Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said the threat of wild polio re-emergence and the circulating variant of poliovirus two, calls for timely detection and response by Nigeria.

The Public Health Programme Specialist, US-CDC, Ms. Adeyelu Asekun, told the Newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, that working with the military and armed forces would be key in bridging the gaps created by insecurity.

US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention

“In 2020, Nigeria became the last country in Africa to be certified polio-free by the Africa Regional Certification Commission.

“As a result, the African continent was declared free of this debilitating disease in August 2020.

”Exactly two years since that certification was received and with a robust surveillance system, Nigeria can quickly detect and respond to wild polio and any other type of poliovirus.

“This is even more so important now with the confirmed wild polioviruses in Malawi and Mozambique and polio detection in the US and the United Kingdom (UK),” Asekun said.

She said that despite the achievement of the wild polio virus-free status by Nigeria, ”there were still challenges that needed to be overcome.”

This, she said, was to ensure that every child five years and below receives the polio vaccine and was protected against this debilitating and life-threatening disease.

The expert described COVID-19 and other competing priorities at the sub-national level as challenges too.

“This is where integration will be key and the government of Nigeria has taken up this initiative to ensure a broader reach with limited resources. But these challenges can be overcome.

“We have seen Nigeria overcome challenges time and time again. We have seen the power of coordination and collaboration at work,” she said.

Asekun stated that the national polio emergency operations centre, with oversight from the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, was the epitome of what true coordination and collaboration were.

“It is important to recognize that engagement with traditional and religious leaders was key in the polio eradication efforts in the country.

”Interfacing with the military was a game changer in completely eradicating wild poliovirus from the country.

“Since 2012, the US CDC has also worked collaboratively with the government of Nigeria on polio eradication efforts and it has been a very rewarding experience. Coordination and collaboration work,” she said.

Asekun, however, said that the US government remained committed to sustaining the course until polio becomes a disease of the past.

“We will continue to support the government of Nigeria with innovations to ensure that we finish the polio race and we finish it well. Congratulations to Nigeria. Congratulations to us all,” she said.

The Public Health expert stated that big recognition of efforts was important for not only boosting morale but for improving performance.

“We have seen Nigeria improve from 33 per cent routine immunization coverage to 56 per cent between 2016 and 2021, and this is despite the disruptions made to routine immunization and primary health care services by COVID-19.

“And then, there was COVID-19! Another seemingly insurmountable challenge that Nigeria was faced with.

”But, Nigeria had once again risen to the challenge. We have seen huge uptakes of COVID-19 vaccinations across many states and numbers are still rising,” she added.

NAN reports that Nigeria celebrated three years of eradicating a viral illness caused by poliovirus that can lead to paralysis, limb deformities, breathing problems, or even death.

Poliovirus resides only in humans and passes on to the environment in the faeces of someone.

Nigeria was the latest country to have officially stopped endemic transmission of wild poliovirus, with its last reported case in 2016.

Wild poliovirus had been eradicated in all continents except Asia, and as of 2020, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries where the disease is still classified as endemic.

Vaccines against each of the three wild strains of polio have given rise to strains of cVDPV, with cVDPV2 being the most prominent. cVDPV caused 689 reported paralytic polio cases worldwide in 2021.

Strike: Union Dissatisfied With FG’s Response To Demands – Osodeke

By

Rhoda Onuzulike

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August 29, 2022

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed dissatisfaction with the Federal Government over response its demands, and declared a “comprehensive, total and indefinite” strike.

ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke made this known in a statement issued at the end of the Union National Executive Council (NEC) emergency meeting early hours on Tuesday in Abuja.

The statement is entitled “ASUU strikes are to save public universities”.

It would be recalled that the lecturers have been on strike since Feb. 14, over alleged failure of government to keep to agreements entered with the unions.

The demands of the striking lecturers include issues bordering on funding of universities, salaries and earned allowances of lecturers, among others.

Osodeke said that the meeting was called to review developments since its last resolution that rolled over the nationwide strike action for another four weeks starting from Aug 1. “In view of the foregoing, and following extensive deliberations on government’s response to the resolution of Feb. 14, 2022 , so far, NEC concluded that the demands of the union had not been satisfactorily addressed.

“Consequently, NEC resolved to transmute the roll-over strike to a comprehensive, total and indefinite strike action beginning from 12.01am. on Monday, Aug. 29, 2022,’’ he said.

According to him, NEC observed with regret that the union has experienced a lot of deceit of the highest level in the last five and half years as the Federal Government engaged ASUU in fruitless and unending negotiation without a display of utmost fidelity.

Osodeke said that ASUU and other well-meaning Nigerians had expressed serious disappointment and consternation on the attitude of the government conveyed by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu.

He said that for the avoidance of doubt, however, none of the issues that forced the union to resume the suspended strike as listed in the December 2020 FGN-ASUU Memorandum of Action (MoA) had been satisfactorily addressed by the government to date.

Orunsolu Adebayo Named As Lagos State Director Of Examination Board

By

Rhoda Onuzulike

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August 29, 2022

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The Lagos State Ministry of Education has appointed Orunsolu Adebayo as the Director of Examination Board.

The Deputy Director, Public Affairs of the Board, Fatai Bakare, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

Bakare said that the appointment, which took effect from Aug. 24, was carried out after the statutory retirement of Supo Gbadegesin.

According to the statement, the appointee, who resumed at his new post on Wednesday, was formerly Head of Computer Unit, Science and Technology of the Ministry.

State Varsities’ Pro-chancellors Reacts To Osodeke’s Comment

By

Rhoda Onuzulike

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August 29, 2022

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The Committee of Pro-chancellors of state universities on Monday said state universities could not be coerced to implement the agreement reached between the Federal Government and lecturers in Federal Universities under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

The pro-chancellors also stated that there was a need for the democratisation of memberships of unions in the universities, noting that state varsities’ membership was voluntary.

Some state universities have come under fire over their failure to pull out of the ongoing strike declared by the national body of ASUU.

The spokesperson of the ministry of education, Ben Goong, had told news correspondent that the agreement between the Federal Government and ASUU wouldn’t be binding on state universities.

However, the ASUU president, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, alongside some state university ASUU chairmen, had kicked against the development claiming that “ASUU is one”.

In a communique made available to news men on Monday, the pro-chancellors said, “ The Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-owned Universities read with alarm and disbelieve a statement made by the President of the ASUU Prof. Emmanuel Osodike on a television programme on Arise, where he said that State Universities are “irrelevant and quacks” on 26th August 2022.

“Our first reaction was to ignore this tendentious, ill-conceived and flagrant unconscionable statement by the President of ASUU, but on reflection, it was thought necessary to do a rejoinder to this rather unfortunate statement having regard to the position of the President of ASUU in the scheme of things in our University system in Nigeria.

“Though COPSUN will not want to go into any diatribe with the President of ASUU, the Committee wishes to state as follows to put records straight:

“That the Pro-Chancellors of our State Universities and indeed members of the councils are distinguished and accomplished eminent persons who served and still serve this Nation in many capacities. Amongst the members are retired Ambassadors, retired Generals in the Armed forces, retired Vice-Chancellors, Senior Advocates of Nigeria, renowned politicians and other distinguished professionals.

“COPSUN wishes to appeal to the President of ASUU to realise that the membership of ASUU is voluntary. Therefore, it is not his ill-informed approach and denigration of state universities that will lead to fashioning out creative approaches to avoid existential extinction that will solve the myriad of problems confronting the University system in Nigeria.

The pro-chancellors added, “The very unfortunate ill-digested view of the President of ASUU had vindicated the position of this Committee on the following issues;

“The negative professionalisation of offices of the Unions that operate in our Universities and the unserious belief among many members of the Unions that the Unions are superior to the Councils of the Universities that are their employers.

“The need for immediate democratisation of the membership of Unions in the universities to the extent of the freedom of any individual to belong to a Union with options of not belonging.

“Devolution of powers on the issues of labour, wages and salaries with freedom of the employers to negotiate with their employees, as practised in other parts of the world, where we borrowed the University system.

“State Universities cannot be forced or coerced to implement agreements reached between the Federal Government and her workers in the Universities to which they are not parties.

“It is time to respect the Federal nature of our government in all matters and not selectively, especially on the issues of salaries and wages”.

ASUU Extends Six-month-old Industrial Action

By

Rhoda Onuzulike

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August 29, 2022

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has extended its six-month-old strike.

The decision was taken after a series of heated discussions at the National Executive Council meeting held at the union’s headquarters at the University of Abuja on Monday morning.

Speaking on the extension, the spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Goong, told newsmen that the government had taken all possible steps to end the strike.

He said, “As regards the next steps, the government has already inaugurated a committee to harmonize the IPPIS, UTAS, and UP3. This will ensure that the government will pay with only one payment platform that will harmonize all the technical peculiarities.

“If you bring some demands and almost 80% have been attended to, there is no need to drag the strike anymore.

“It is unreasonable for the strike to be lingering seeing as the government has worked towards fulfilling most of the demands.”

ASUU had declared the commencement of a strike on Monday, February 14, 2022, at the University of Lagos.