“We were close to adding one more player” – Wenger

By Phillip Eta 

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, has revealed that he was close to signing one more player, before the January transfer window slammed shut last night.
The Frenchman was able to complete a deal to bring in Malaga’s left-back, Nacho Monreal, but says he almost brought in one more player to boost his squad.
“We were close to one more signature,” Wenger said. “It did not happen because of the desire of the clubs to sell or not sell. It is only linked with that.
“It was not a money problem, it was more a desire from other clubs to keep their players.
“I believe that we have top quality in our squad and that is what we want to show until the end of the season.

“We have some aspects of our game that we need to improve and how active we will be in the market in the summer will be decided by how well we do now until the end of the season.”
Several reports have suggested the player in question is Saint Etienne’s defensive midfielder, Capoue.
Naij

Super Eagles: Ten Steps To Beating Elephants

Nigeria's Super Eagles are a team in transition, but this Sunday they go up against Afcon favourites - Cote d'Ivoire - in Rustenburg in their biggest test so far.

The Ivorians are not writing off their Nigerian opponents knowing that this is their 12th consecutive berth in the knockout stages of the Afcon whenever they have taken part in it.
Stephen Keshi and his men know they face the tournament's most talented squad with an intimidating record of qualifying from the group stages of the Afcon undefeated in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013.
Supersport.com identifies 10 key areas in which the Super Eagles will need to defeat the impressive Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire.
1. Sticking to a game-plan. In the 2012 Afcon final, the Zambians with odds against them stuck to a game-plan based solely on fending off the Ivorians and hitting on the break before that epic shootout leading to their first title. So Keshi needs a game-plan. His team will either have to attack or defend, and defend with zero errors too. And it is good, Keshi has said: "I have a game plan (against Cote d'Ivoire) but that is for the players."
2. Psychology of players. Nigeria have 17 players making their first appearances at the Afcon except for captain Joseph Yobo, Vincent Enyeama, John Obi Mikel, Ikechukwu Uche, Austin Ejide and Elderson Echiejile. Definitely Keshi and his backroom staff have their work cut out in building confidence in the squad ahead of facing the Ivorians with top stars like Yaya Toure, Didier Drogba and Gervinho.
3. Sorting out the full-backs. Coming up against a team with attacking wingers who run at defences and switch places, Keshi surely needs to work on his full-backs especially their mobility on and off the ball. Unfortunately Nigeria picked a squad without a natural right-back. Keshi prefers Efe Ambrose in right-back over his preferred centre-back role. Expect Sabri Lamouchi to detail Gervinho to run at Ambrose if he starts at right-back.
4. Who pairs Godfrey Oboabona? It is safe to say Oboabona is Keshi's most trusted man in the heart of defence right now. But will it be Kenneth Omeruo or Yobo pairing him? The Super Eagles' backline surely needs a defensive leader against the experienced strikers of the Elephants. Yobo fits the bill but Omeruo has also impressed based on performance.
5. Attacking through the wide men. Victor Moses, Ahmed Musa and Ejike Uzoenyi are the wide men in the team. They can trouble the Ivorians though Musa has put in a poor performance at this Afcon so far. But Moses can be used to good effect as a left winger to keep Emmanuel Eboue busy. As for Uzoenyi, he is yet to make an appearance but remains a good option for Keshi.
6. Exploiting Ivorian's heart of defence. Kolo Toure and Souleymane Bamba are definitely Cote d'Ivoire's best centre-back pair from all indications. Togo's Hawks showed through pace and physical style that the Ivorians can be breached at the back and even through the heart of their defence. So Emmanuel Emenike who is Nigeria's most physical striker could do a lot in this area. Good too he has a pace decent enough to trouble any defence.
7. Packing the middle. Current African Football of the Year, Yaya Toure is a master in midfield whether it is accepted or not. He's a box-to-box man, switches play from defence to attack for a big man and shoots with deadly accuracy. With Fegor Ogude suspended, Keshi sure needs to shore up the middle. Options are Mikel and Reuben Gabriel to hold the midfield or play both of them as defensive midfielders. The trio of Obiorah Nwankwo, Ogenyi Onazi and Nosa Igiebor are lightweights and attack-minded for this role.
8. Conceding/defending set-pieces. This is where the Super Eagles need to be wary. The Ivorians are good from dead-balls and even threatening when they get it around the D. So they will need to concede less of such dead-balls around their goal area.
9. Winning key battles. A handful of key battles for this game. Yaya Toure versus Mikel. Moses versus Emmanuel Eboue, if the Nigerian is played wide of his team's left side of attack. At the other end, it will be Gervinho versus Echiejile or Gervinho versus Ambrose, depending on the line-up. These among other key battles if won by the Super Eagles gives them a chance to upstage the tournament favourites.
10. Training for spot-kicks. At this stage, penalties could settle it. Keshi by now should know his best five penalty-takers as the tournament's knockout stages begin this Saturday. But it could stretch beyond five kicks and that's the reason all 11 players must be drilled in the art of taking spot kicks. At the same time, goalkeepers could play key roles as well should a shootout suffice.
Naij

Nike Workers 'Kicked, Slapped and Verbally Abused' at Factories Making Converse

They're one of the world's top sports clothing brands, but for years Nike have been dogged by allegations of sweatshops and child labour. Now workers making Nike's Converse shoes at a factory in Indonesia say they are being physically and mentally abused.

Workers at the Sukabumi plant, about 60 miles from Jakarta, say supervisors frequently throw shoes at them, slap them in the face, kick them and call them dogs and pigs. Nike admits that such abuse has occurred among the contractors that make its hip high-tops but says there was little it could do to stop it.
Dozens of interviews by The Associated Press, and a document released by Nike, show the company has a long way to go to meet the standards it set for itself a decade ago to end its reliance on sweatshop labour.
One worker at the Taiwanese-operated Pou Chen plant in Sukabumi said she was kicked by a supervisor last year after making a mistake while cutting rubber for soles.
'We're powerless,' said the woman, who like several others interviewed spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals. 'Our only choice is to stay and suffer, or speak out and be fired.' The 10,000 mostly female workers at the Taiwanese-operated Pou Chen plant make around 50 cents an hour.
'It's part of our daily bread,'says Mira Agustina, 30, said she was fired in 2009 for taking sick leave, even though she produced a doctor's note.
Naij

Police Rapes 3-Year-Old Girl, Infects Her With STD

A police officer allegedly gave a three-year-old girl a sexually transmitted disease when he abused her, a court has today heard.

PC James Williams, who was based at Trinity Road police station, in Bristol, is accused of assaulting the toddler in a house in the city and passing on chlamydia to her.

On the first day of evidence at his trial today a jury heard the allegations against the 28-year-old came to light when the little girl complained that she was sore when she went to the toilet.

When her mother asked why, she said Williams had 'hurt' her and indicated how with her hands.

She also claimed Williams had exposed himself to her, the court heard.

While staying with her father the following day, the youngster repeated some of the claims to him.

Williams, who is suspended from duties as a response officer for Avon and Somerset police, denies sexual assault by penetration on a child under 13.

The girl's mother shook as she recounted what her daughter told her had happened.

As she stood in the witness box at Bournemouth Crown Court she said the first time she took her daughter to the doctor, she did not tell him what the three-year-old was claiming.

The youngster, whose anonymity is protected by law, was diagnosed with a water infection.

But she was taken back to the GP several days later where the allegations were explained.

She was then admitted to Bristol Children's Hospital for a full examination where tests revealed she had chlamydia, a disease usually transmitted sexually, which can cause infertility.

Her mother said: 'I know chlamydia can cause problems for older ladies with them having children and that was one of my worst fears.'

Prosecuting, Kerry Barker said Williams and others who had come into contact with the girl around that time were all tested for the disease.

Mr Barker said: 'He (Williams) agreed voluntarily to undertake tests for chlamydia and those tests showed he too had chlamydia, and it was the same strain.'

Williams was privately confronted about the allegations by the family, with the girl - now five - in the same room.

Witnesses told the jury that when asked who had touched her, she pointed at him and said that he had. 

When asked again she repeated the response, but when asked for a third time she replied: 'It's a secret.'

The court heard from several witnesses at that 'tense' meeting who said Williams did not deny the allegations at the time.

The girl's mother told the jury: 'James didn't really react.'

During the alleged victim's first year in nursery school, staff catalogued 'concerning' and 'sexualised' behaviour towards other children.

After counselling sessions, her behaviour became more normal but she is still 'very cuddly' towards other children, her mother said.

The jury heard the girl's infection was treated with medicine. But then two years later her symptoms returned.

Tests revealed she had the infection again, having had no contact with Williams since the allegations first surfaced.

The case continues

TalkOfNaija

Hop, hop, and AWAY! How “missing N4 million” handed to Abuja police disappeared into thin air

inShare1

A mild drama ensued Wednesday in Karu, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) when a food seller in the Karu Motor Park, known as Mama Ngozi, was alleged to have found the sum of N4million misplaced by a white man who came to eat in her makeshift canteen.
LEADERSHIP learnt that the woman took the money to the Karu Police station which was just a stone throw to the motor park and handed the money to the officers on duty for safe keeping, in the event that the white man who misplaced the money came back for it.
It was learnt that after she had taken the money to the police station, the officers on duty allegedly took the money and sternly warned her to deny ever seeing such money or bringing it to the police station.
According to the sources, as soon as the woman returned from the police station, neighbours and other people who did business around the park thronged her canteen and started berating her for returning the money to the police when she could have helped herself with such huge sum.
LEADERSHIP further learnt that when the husband of the woman heard about the incident he also berated her for returning the money to the police. Meanwhile the officers in Karu were said to have invited the food seller and her husband and warned them about the danger theywould face if they revealed that the money was brought to the station.
According to the sources, throughout that Wednesday, people kept thronging Mama Ngozi’s canteen from all corners of Karu to find out why she took such an amount to the police. It was also learnt that when the white man who misplaced the money returned to the canteen Mama Ngozi told him that she did not see the stipulated sum.
When LEADERSHIP visited Karu Park, yesterday morning, most of the people doing business around the park who spoke with this reporter, confirmed the story and was still expressing disappointment that Mama Ngozi returned the money to the police.
According to them, the woman was in need of money and so, was not justified to have returned money “placed on her laps by God”, they averred.
When LEADERSHIP reporter accosted Mama Ngozi, she expressed shock at the story and wondered that it had already gone to town. She denied ever coming across such an amount in her shop and also denied taking the money to the police. She however confirmed that people kept thronging her canteen throughout Wednesday, to find out how she found such a huge sum and returned it to the police.
YNaija.com

Dangote reopens Gboko Cement Plant

By Robert Obi 

Management of Dangote Cement Plc has announced the reopening of its Gboko Cement Plant in Benue State. The factory which is to operate at half capacity was closed down last year as a result of the glut in the domestic cement market.
The decision to reopen the plant was reached immediately after a meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and the Chairman of Dangote Cement Alhaji Aliko Dangote in Abuja yesterday.
Giving reasons for the reopening, a source from Dangote Cement said, “Since the shutdown of the Gboko Cement Plant, Government has been engaging local cement manufacturers in discussions, trying to find solutions to the challenges facing the industry.
According to the source, Aliko Dangote was in an upbeat mood after the meeting with the president and in appreciation of the President’s concern and willingness to intervene; he gave immediate directives to restart operations at the Gboko Plant.
When contacted, Group Head, Corporate Communications, Dangote Group, Tony Chiejina confirmed the reopening and said, “We are confident that in the days ahead, we will see positive developments and actions that will address problems of local cement manufacturers in Nigeria.”

It should be recalled that Dangote Cement temporarily shut down its Gboko Cement plant in December 2012, a move that was necessitated by the glut in the market, which arose from the success presently being recorded with the exponential increase in local production of cement and further compounded by continued importation of subsidized cement into the country. The continued importation of cement calls to question the rigorous implementation of the backward integration policy introduced by the Federal Government in 2002 to encourage local production.
Cement distributors are in high spirits following the announcement of the reopening. Chief Gab Alim, an Ogoja-based distributor said the reopening of the plant will reinvigorate cement business in Cross River State especially in Ogoja axis which is near Benue State. He said that with the opening, construction works which had slowed down in the area, will resume resulting in a win win situation for all stakeholders.
Staff, traders and business owners in Gboko are jubilating over the reopening. They said that the restarting of the cement plant means the restarting of their source of livelihood as businesses that went into hibernation, will kick back to life.
BusinessNews

Capcom eyeing acquisition of Zoom, Intercellular networks

By Robert Obi

Following the smooth acquisition of Starcomms, Multi-links and MTS First Wireless, there are strong indications that Capcom Limited is also considering the acquisition of Zoom Mobile and Intercellular.
While Capcom awaits SEC’s approval to enable it merge the acquired three Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators into one, it may have decided to add Zoom and Intercellular to its acquisition, which if successful, would make Capcom’s acquired CDMA operators, a total of five.
Industry sources confirmed to THISDAY that the company was particularly interested in increasing the size of it spectrums, which when combined to that of the already existing three operators will help solidify its grip on the CDMA segment of the telecommunications industry, enabling it become the first national LTE broadband operator.
However, they added that Capcom’s acquisition of Zoom and Intercellular would largely depend on the debt on their books, as it would not want to take on liabilities that could hamper the operations of the emerging entity.
For a one time struggling segment nearly wrestled away by the GSM companies, CDMA stakeholders were gladdened when the news came that a financially foreign and Nigerian investors were intent on rescuing the staggering CDMA segment.
Before going after Starcomms, the group began by acquiring 100 per cent of Multi-Links and MTS, thus giving it full ownership of the two CDMA operators. For Zoom Mobile and Intercellular, which have both suspended their operations, the interest shown by Capcom is good news for both networks.

Intercellular and Zoom were some of the early entrants into the CDMA segment of the mobile telephony market, but have been hamstrung by lack of adequate capital, mismanagement by their owners, and massive debts owed local and regional banks such as Afrexim Bank.
One major last hurdle to cross for Capcom still remains the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) approval for the merger of the CDMA networks it has already acquired.
In an earlier report by THISDAY, it was revealed that all the necessary documentation had been submitted to the SEC, which is required by law to grant approval to the merger within 30 days.
Capcom CEO, Demola Elesho, had also revealed that without the approval of the proposed merger of Starcomms, Multi-Links and MTS by the SEC, the new company would not be able to advance into the final operational stage.
In the interim, Elesho said Capcom would continue to render services to the already existing Starcomms, Multi-Links and MTS customers, while it keeps working on rolling out new services as soon as it gets SEC’s approval.
BusinessNews