I am sorry, but these Eagles are destined not to fly.....

Stephen Keshi

By Remi DaCosta

In a piece I wrote almost exactly 120 days ago, I called attention to the impending implosion of Nigeria's Super Eagles at this year's FIFA World Cup if our football stakeholders and well-meaning Nigerians did not call Stephen Keshi and the Football Federation of Nigeria (NFF) to order.

Well, it seems I have been proven right at the initial onset with the listless performance of the Super Eagles against a very poor Iranian side, that essentially "parked the bus" against an inexperienced and poorly coached Nigerian team.

As a Nigerian, I believe it is imperative that I make it abundantly clear that I want this team to do well.

However, the handwriting has been on the wall since the 1-1 draw against "mighty" Kenya in Calabar.

In fact, going back as far as the Nations Cup final against Burkina Faso, it was apparent that the team lacked the requisite bite in the final third as they actually should have put Burkina Faso to the proverbial sword much sooner, had they (Nigeria) not been so profligate in front of goal.

The team struggled to score in that final game simply because one player, Emmanuel Emenike was out injured. Nigeria has never been built like that as far as I have known. We have always had players in all positions with the ability to score at any time.

The problem though was that Keshi, who was essentially the "king of the Super Eagles mafia" in those days, had again brought his well-known lack of man-management skills (same when he was with Togo and Mali) to the Super Eagles and was clashing with all the key players Nigeria needed to take this team to the next level.

Nigeria huffed and puffed its way through the qualifiers against "world beaters" such as Namibia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Malawi and had to wait till the last day to grind out a listless 2-0 victory over Ethiopia, a country better known for producing long distance runners.

Everyone that had the ability to analyze the team pointed to the ominous flaws in the team, but Keshi, in his usual stubborn stance (that always seems to defy logic) continued to ride his self-destructive ego by alienating the proven strikers we had such as Anichebe, Martins and Ikechukwu Uche, among others.

We all continued to shout at the top of our voices, but we were always met with accusations of bias (including tribalism) by his ardent supporters who refuse to see anything wrong with a man whose antecedents point to a recurring penchant for self-destruction, by virtue of an over-bearing ego and debilitating stubbornness.

When Keshi finally released his team list, we all saw the handwriting on the wall. Although we welcomed the inclusion of Osaze Odemwingie, an experienced player with an eye for goal, there were some suspect call-ups (including the likes of Gabriel Reuben, Juwon Oshaniwa, Michael Uchebo and Michael Babatunde) that had absolutely no business being anywhere near the Eagles' training camp, much less on the plane to Brazil.

When you add the suspect call ups to Keshi's laziness (never scouts his opponents) and inability to offer the requisite technical and tactical input (pre-game and in-game), it is easy to see why this team is destined to struggle and did just that against a vastly inferior Iranian team.

This is not the African Nations Cup and as such those who are expecting another miracle should just forget about it. As a Nigerian that bleeds the Green-White-Green of that great nation, I hope this team does well and represents Africa with distinction.

It is however clear that regardless of how the team performs at this competition, Stephen Keshi and his band of agents (including Daniel Amokachi) need to be shown the door to prevent them from destroying the next generation of great talent we have coming through the ranks.

Nigeria and Nigerians deserve better as we have the talent pool needed to put us at the top for years to come..... with the right person at the helm.

Stephen Keshi is not that person and we wish him well on his new assignment with South Africa or any of the other five countries he says want him.

Implicating top Nigerian generals and other senior security personnel for sponsoring Boko Haram

CC Investigative by Remi DaCosta

Ten generals and five other senior military officers have been found guilty in courts-martial of providing arms and information to Boko Haram extremists, according to credible intelligence sources, although the military has so far denied the reports.

This is not surprising as there have been accusations from top politicians and national stakeholders that the upper echelon of the Nigerian military, which has been effectively compromised more-so under this current administration, have been helping the Islamic extremists, with some rank-and-file soldiers reportedly fighting alongside the insurgents and then returning to army camps.

Intelligence sources told CC that the recent reshuffling of President Jonathan's top security team has in-fact done more harm than good as some of the recently appointed security chiefs, a 'recurring' appointee in particular, are heavily sympathetic to the Boko Haram sect. 

The 'recurring' appointee, intelligence sources told CC has been one of the sect's most ardent financial and political supporters for years and continues to nurse incendiary aspirations for the top job at Aso Rock.

The irony of our investigative findings is that the support for the murderous sect actually cuts across ethnic lines and is rooted in political and strategic mischief on the part of both the incumbent government of Goodluck Jonathan and a core of his political opponents.

While the military continues to deny the reports, there is increasing proof (as evidenced by the recent spate of mutinous behavior by the front-line troops) that there are moles in the administration of President Jonathan from top to bottom, making it next-to-impossible for the mission of defeating Boko Haram to be accomplished.

It is inconceivable that the same Nigerian military that has distinguished itself for decades both locally and internationally (including an enviable peace keeping record across the globe) is all of a sudden incapable of defeating a rag-tag group of misfits and thugs masquerading as viable insurgents.

President Jonathan needs to stop deceiving himself, the Nigerian masses and indeed the whole world and for once grow a pair. 

He needs to clear house and put people in place that are truly committed to not only defeating Boko Haram, but ensuring that the general state of insecurity in Nigeria becomes a thing of the past.

Unfortunately, I doubt he will. 

Donald Trump in "typical fight" with Chicago Mayor over sign on his downtown skyscraper

CC News

Donald Trump is at it again! 

This time, the real estate mogul is fighting with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel over a sign affixed to his (Trump's) downtown skyscraper. 

The 20 ft tall TRUMP sign was placed 200 ft above the Chicago river and is back-lit by bright lights. 

Mr Emanuel's office said the mayor believed the "architecturally tasteful building" was "scarred" by the sign. 

But Mr Trump has said the sign is "magnificent" and "popular" and argued the city previously signed off on it.

It enhances the building, he said, stating that the building itself was "a great piece of architecture, great for Chicago".

"Cities love the [Trump] brand and we are getting tweets, letters and phone calls from people who just love it [the sign]."

The real estate magnate and prolific tweeter blamed Blair Kamin, Chicago Tribune's architecture critic, for stirring up controversy with his harsh criticism during the sign's recent installation.

"If this sign was in Atlantic City or Las Vegas, nobody would care - but it is in Chicago, and in a part of Chicago full of great buildings from the 1920s to the 1960s and onward," Mr Kamin, a Pulitzer Prize-winner said.

None of the other towers have signs on them, he added, calling the Trump sign an "egotistical overstatement".

Mr Trump built the Trump International Hotel and Tower six years ago to replace an ageing Chicago Sun-Times building with its own sign. It is now the second-tallest building in the city.

The former tenants of the site agree with Mr Kamin.

"It is, rather, an obnoxious New York interloper, not unlike The Donald himself," wrote the Sun Times newspaper, which described the sign on its current building as "sociable but not loud".

Kelly Quinn, Mr Emanuel's spokeswoman, told the New York Times the mayor instructed Mr Trump's office to look into "options available for further changes".

You can expect we haven't heard the last of this "world-changing" issue. 

Lekki to Ikeja in Lagos, Nigeria on my BMW K1300S.....

By Andy Onalaja

Lagos, Africa's "Big Apple".....

CC Infomercial

The million dollar car

CC Carzilla

U.S. household net worth climbs $1.5 trillion in 1st quarter

By Steve Goldstein

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Thanks to rising house prices and a growing stock market, U.S. households and nonprofits added $1.5 trillion in net worth in the first quarter, according to Federal Reserve data released Thursday.

The data was part of a voluminous report called the “financial accounts of the United States,” which contains details on an array of assets and liabilities. The gain in net worth to $81.76 trillion was driven by a $758 billion increase in the value of residential real estate and a $361 billion rise in corporate equities.

Though housing activity has remained muted, prices have grown, allowing many homeowners to escape a situation where their mortgage was greater than what their house was worth. Separate data released by CoreLogic show the number of properties that are underwater has dropped by about half since 2009.

Collectively, households now have 53.6% of the equity in residential real estate — way up from a low of 38.4% in 2009.

Debt outside the financial sector rose at a seasonally adjusted rate of 5% in the first quarter, a slight deceleration from the 5.2% in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Household debt grew 2%, as the 6.6% gain in consumer credit like car and student loans offset the 0.9% drop in mortgage debt. Mortgage debt has dropped 15 of the last 17 quarters, a drop of 13% from six years ago.

The part of the economy that can take advantage of low interest rates, the corporate sector, continued to borrow, with nonfinancial business debt climbing at an annual rate of 7.3%. The Fed said most of that borrowing came through the bond market.

After four quarters of increases, companies began to deploy the cash on their balance sheet, which fell to $1.85 trillion from $1.94 trillion in the fourth quarter.

Steve Goldstein is MarketWatch's Washington bureau chief. Follow him on Twitter @MKTWgoldstein.

Okay Tom Cruise, you "invented" what again?

CC Videorama

Fani-Kayode again goes on another rant..... "leaves APC" and goes back to his vomit..... PDP

Editors Corner

Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has reportedly "dumped" the All Progressives Congress for the Peoples Democratic Party, accusing the party of having an Islamic agenda and being intolerant.

Fani-Kayode, in a statement earlier this week referred to the spokesperson for the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed as a "liar." One would expect more refinement from someone who has served at the highest levels of government, but then again, we are talking about FFK here.

The statement by Fani-Kayode read in part, "I have stated these facts and set the record straight - due to the fact that Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the spokesman of the APC, had the effrontery to say in an interview with a magazine earlier today, that I was never a member of the APC and that I never joined them formally. The truth is that Mohammed is not only a liar but he is also a coward. 

He stated further:

"I cannot remain in a party where a handful of people that have sympathies for Boko Haram and that have a clear Islamic agenda are playing a leading role.

"This is made all the more untenable when some of those people are working hard silently and behind the scenes to impose a Muslim/Muslim ticket on the party for the Presidential elections next year. 

"I cannot be in a party where a few of its leaders are more interested in playing politics with the whole Chibok issue and hurling bricks at our military for not doing a better job. I cannot be in a party in which the role of one of its governors is not clear on the Chibok issue."

Fani-Kayode has always had a reputation for being rather bombastic and lacking in requisite discretion. To say he typifies the Nigerian political class would not necessarily be out of place, although he has shown time and again, that he is very much in a class, or an asylum of his own.

I am not exactly sure what would be wrong with a Muslim/Muslim ticket as long as the candidates are competent and care for the well-being of all Nigerians. Is Fani-Kayode saying a Christian/Christian ticket would be more appealing to him? We currently have a so-called Christian president at Aso Rock and I must say, I would take an Animist or even a Buddhist right now that can demonstrate even the most salient sense of purpose and direction, needed to lead a country of Nigeria's magnitude.

Someone needs to ensure that FFK takes his medication on a more consistent basis, as his actions are beginning to wear thin on just about anyone with even the slightest ounce of common sense.

One wonders whatever happened to his willingness to "carry an AK 47 and die for Oduduwa land." Guess, he changed his mind on that as well.

Nigeria deserves better than the likes of FFK, but unfortunately, a nation gets the leaders it deserves.

Charity begins away from home: London's most expensive homes are owned by Nigerians.....

Edgerton Crescent - Credits: Google Earth

By Chukwudi Oladimeji Akasike

A philanthropist and Chairman of New Nation, an empowerment-oriented group, Mr. Charles Dukwe, has said that 70 percent of the most expensive buildings in London are owned by Nigerians.

Dukwe explained on Saturday that owners of the houses might have corruptly enriched themselves, adding that people from the United Kingdom avoid buying houses in the area due to their (houses) expensive prices.

The philanthropist spoke with newsmen in Port Harcourt shortly after unveiling the ‘Queen of Compassion and Kill the Killers Initiative;’ a grassroots campaign against diabetes and high blood pressure.

Present at the event as brand ambassadors are Nollywood stars like Ini Edo, Uche Jombo, Monalisa Chinda and Desmond Elliot.

Dukwe lamented that some Nigerians were investing funds from Nigeria in Europe and other Western countries.

Calling on Nigerians to embrace compassion and show love to each other, Dukwe observed that Nigeria was going through a lot of challenges as a result of corruption that had brought rot to the system.

"There is a street in London; it is called Edgerton Crescent. Edgerton Crescent is the most expensive street in the world. Houses there are worth three million pounds, four million pounds.

"British celebrities that have money don't buy houses on that street. They will tell you it is too expensive. But 70 percent of the houses there are owned by Nigerians."

"The most missing thing in Nigeria is compassion. We want to use compassion as a value and drive it through people so that people can help each other in the society. Our aim is to make compassion a core-value in the society."

He noted that the Kill the Killers Initiative was established to attack the major diseases that cut short the lives of the people in Nigeria and Africa in general.

According to him, diabetes and high blood pressure form over 60 percent of the cause of deaths among adults in Nigeria, just as malaria form 70 percent of the deaths among children in the country.

"Kill the Killers Initiative is designed to attack the principal diseases that cut short the lives of our people unnecessarily in Nigeria and across Africa.

"The programme begins with an organised effort against diabetes and high blood pressure, which form over 60 percent of the cause of deaths among adults in the country and malaria, which forms 70 percent of the cause of death among children.

"In Nigeria and across Africa, we have failed immeasurably by paying little or no attention to principal diseases that cut the lives of our people short and thus leaving our life expectancy to numbers way below all the advanced nations," he said.