“Coaches from Barcelona trained me for the AFCON” – Vincent Enyeama

By Ifreke Inyang

Super Eagles number one goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, has revealed that he was trained by some of the best goalkeeping coaches, before the Africa Cup of Nations kicked off.
The stand-in skipper of the national team, has been in great form at the tournament, making some sensational saves to keep Nigeria going. He says he has gotten better, as a result of working with trainers from Barcelona, Israel and Turkey.
“I will give much credit to my coaches because I had coaches from Barcelona, Israel and Turkey they really helped me. We had one month training together before the commencement of the final build up for the Nations Cup,” he told SportingLife.
Enyeama also stated that he was not surprised for some of the criticisms the team received, after they started badly in the competition, because Nigerians are very attached to football.

“It is not a new thing to be criticized by Nigerians. I was criticized before coming to the Nations Cup but I thank God for where we are today. I am used to this because I have played for this country for 11 years and I can tell how we react to matches and results. When you make a mistake my people will come down hard on you pom, pom, pom,” he joked.
On Nigeria’s chances of winning the trophy for the first time since 1994, he said: “God is author and finisher of everything if He wishes us to win we will win, if not there is nothing we can do about it.”
DailyPost

The Most Important thing to do After an Affair

By Marina Pearson

"I feel so guilty I had the affair. I don't even know why I did it. What was I thinking?"

This is a very typical line from women who are living with the guilt of an affair. If you are a woman who has cheated on her husband or boyfriend and you are now dealing with the destructive aftermath and feeling extremely guilty, I empathize. I, like you, have been where you are and it's a difficult place to escape -- if you don't know how.

Having worked with many women who have had affairs, and having been there myself, the reasons for cheating vary -- feeling dead inside, boredom, a feeling of neglect and communication breakdown are among the most popular. Regardless of the reason for the infidelity, the feelings of guilt eat women up inside, affecting their health, their mental well-being and their children. As a result of their guilt, women bow down to all of their partner's requests to make things right with him. This, of course, is not a healthy solution for anyone.

So, what can you do to get over your guilt and move on with your life?

Below are the steps I took to get over my affair guilt:

1. Forgive yourself. Beating yourself up will be the death of you. It will literally suck all the living force out of you. I remember running into a church to beg God for forgiveness. I could not forgive myself for what I had done to my ex and those around me. Every day I had to live with the consequences of my own actions.

However, one day I realized that if I didn't forgive myself, I wouldn’t be able to live in peace or bring proper happiness to anyone else around me. Because I was too consumed with beating myself up, there was no room for me to give back to others. When I realized this, I knew it was time to change and give back.

Ask yourself, "What kind of person would do something like this?" Once you have the answer, ask, "What beautiful gifts does this sort of person give me?" Keep going until you have a long list and you feel grateful for having this part of you.

2. Practice acceptance. I had to accept that what was done was done. I had to accept that I'd had an affair and I had caused a lot of suffering. The practice of acceptance got me to face up to what I had done and how many people had been hurt. I realized I had no other choice other than to accept where I was.

Acceptance is a very important part to being able to move on. The word comes from the Latin word "acquiescence", which means, "to find rest in." Acceptance will also stop your internal struggle -- the one where you keep wishing the affair had not happened the way it did or hurt as many people. Once you stop struggling with your own reality, calmness will start to take its place.

3. Surrender your feelings to a higher power. Offer up your feelings to a higher power. I know this may sound shaky, but it really works! We are part of a bigger plan. We are not necessarily in charge of the outcome. By doing this, you will be getting out of your own way and accept and have faith that all will be well.

The minute you do this, miracles start to happen; situations and opportunities start to open up that you didn't even think were possible. At least this is what I have experienced and have also seen in my clients.

4. See the balance. This is a very powerful element to getting over your affair guilt. We live in a world of complimentary opposites. There are no pluses without minuses and no going up with out coming down. There is no night without day and you cannot create a dark shadow without light. As there are benefits and drawbacks to every situation, you will need to look at what the benefits are to all parties involved.

Now, this goes beyond justification, beyond wanting to be right -- this is about being able to see that just as you may have caused pain to those around you, you will have also caused them pleasure too. This is a universal law.

Ask yourself, what are the benefits of you doing what you did to whom you did it to? They will have benefited from what you did, they always do. For example, my ex-husband is now happily married and with someone that is far better suited for him than me. Not only that, he got to stand on his own two feet and end the relationship, which gave him the opportunity to reclaim his power back.

5. Learn from it. Finally, take the positive learnings from the experience and move on. Once I had learned what my patterns were, what beliefs and parts of myself I needed to work on, I was able to let go of the anger at myself and know the next relationship would be really different because I would have changed.

This way, I wouldn't fall into the same patterns again and not always be a cheater. It is definitely not true when people say, "Once a cheater, always and a cheater" -- at least not if you work on yourself and get the support you need to shift what has not been working for you thus far.

I personally had to change what I thought of myself. Once I had done this, I knew I would choose a different behavior next time. Believing you have to suffer for what you have done does not help anyone. So forgive, accept, surrender, see and learn and watch the guilt dissolve.

 TalkOfNaija

We played Brazil not Nigeria - Samassa

Mali goalkeeper Mamadou Samassa compared their Wednesday’s opposition to five-time World Cup champions Brazil after they succumbed to a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the semi-finals of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Durban. The 22-year-old, who plays for Guingamp in France, said they don’t deserve any blame for such a huge loss because they met a fire-spitting side that could have dismantled any team at the competition.
“I feel the team we played against was Brazil and not the Nigeria we used to know. From my post I was seeing more than 15 green shirts pouring forth against us and not the usual 10 players. They were strong, slippery, focused and pacy,” Samassa told supersport.com.
“We did our best. We heeded our coach’s instructions but they fell below what was needed to stop the Super Eagles. They were winning all the balls, pursuing us mercilessly each time we had the ball and their finishing was always on target and that was their major advantage. They have forwards that can transform the slimmest goal chances.”
Mali will face Ghana in the third place match on Saturday February 9 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. Both sides met in a similar situation last year at the Africa Cup of Nations held in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, with the Eagles triumphing to claim bronze.
SuperSport

Reps deliberate on imminent collapse of Third Mainland bridge, as Mark warns against catastrophe

By Bisola Adeniran

Senate President, David Mark, has warned that the Lagos Third Mainland Bridge would be a major national disaster if allowed to collapse.
This is as the Senate will, today, debate a motion on the imminent collapse of the bridge.
Senator Mark said “the bridge is an important edifice and its collapse will be a major catastrophe, as many lives may be lost.”
The Third Mainland Bridge, measured 11.8 km and connected the Mainland to Lagos Island, was commissioned by former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, in 1990.
The Federal Ministry of Works completed repair works on the bridge last October, after its closure to motorists and commuters for over four months.
At the plenary session on Wednesday, Senator Gbenga Ashafa from Lagos East raised a point of order to bring to the attention of the Senate the state of the bridge, adding that he would want an urgent remedial measures to be taken.

He said the consultant who carried out the post-assessment of the repair works of the bridge discovered that the repair work on its foundation was not properly done.
Ashafa said the consultant discovered that the bridge “could collapse today, tomorrow, next year, five or 10 years and, therefore, there is the urgent need to discuss the imminent collapse.”
The repair of the Third Mainland Bridge before it was re-opened last year reportedly gulped N1.5 billion, including repairs at eight expansion joints of both sides of the bridge.
 DailyPost

I won’t retire from doing good – Obasanjo

By Ameh Comrade Godwin

Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has vowed never to stop doing good until God calls him to glory.
The retired military general in an interview with the newly established international television station, Arise TV, called on the need for international community to mobilise support the international coalition forces in Mali.
He stressed that the intervention was launched for the benefit of the global community.
The interview we learnt was recorded in London where the Ota farmer recently arrived for the launch of his Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation scheduled for tomorrow, February 8.
Asked when he would retire from the international stage, the former president averred: “There is no retirement in doing good in life and so long as you have breadth, you should continue to do good.”

Obasanjo while commending the efforts of the international coalition forces in Mali, said the Malian troops must be boosted through increased training to be able to handle the critical situation.
“The point is that if we have a situation anywhere in the world that affects the whole world, the world must be able to raise the needed money in order to deal with the situation,” adding “if the will is there, it would be done.”
According to him, his efforts in good works, which he said, were also being channeled through his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, were in the line of American presidents established the presidential libraries after leaving office.
DailyPost

‘Emenike’s injury not serious’

Nigeria striker Emmanuel Emenike’s injury is not serious, while a scan will be carried out for Victor Moses, officials told MTNFootball.com.
Emenike injured his right leg during the semi-final victory over Mali while shooting for goal, but team spokesman Ben Alaiya said it was not a serious injury as the doctor is expected to confirm this later Thursday.
Alaiya said, “Emenike’s injury is not serious, he had just a knock which is minor. He should be fit for final, but we are waiting for the medical report on him which should be ready by lunch time.”
Emenike has scored four goals so far in the tournament with two assists to top the goals chart at the African Nations Cup in South Africa.
He suffered what look like a hamstring injury while shooting from long range at goal against Mali on Wednesday.
Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi disclosed that a scan will be carried out on Chelsea winger Moses, who also picked up an injury against Mali.
“We hope it is not serious and he will play the final,” said Keshi.
NaijaCenter

Under Jonathan leadership, the more you steal, the less punishment you receive – ACN

By Ameh Comrade Godwin

Leading opposition party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has said that President Goodluck Jonathan is not competent enough to lead this nation, saying that under his administration, the more money you steal, the less punishment you receive
The party in a communiqué issued in Abuja Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, lampooned one of his special advisers, Doyin Okupe for seeking to blame the opposition for Jonathan’s inability to make a positive impact on the lives of Nigerians.
It said the likes of Okupe, rather than the opposition, had contributed in no small measure to the administration’s low esteem in the eyes of Nigerians.
The statement reads in part: “There is no point rummaging through the dictionary to define incompetence, as Okupe has done in his rambling statement. All one needs to do to understand the meaning of incompetence is to look at the waffling Jonathan administration. “Touting President Goodluck Jonathan’s impressive academic qualifications is also very cheap, as they have not proven to be an asset in the way and manner the President has steered the affairs of his administration, especially his articulation of his government’s policies and the projection of its ability. In any case, while a doctorate degree in any field is something to be celebrated, it is not a pre-requisite for being a good leader,” it said.
According to ACN the incompetence and cluelessness of the Jonathan administration had deterred the nation from growing.
“No administration in our recent history has been more a hotbed of corruption than the Jonathan administration, whether it is the fuel subsidy scam or the police pension scam, just to mention two. Even when a feeble attempt is made to prosecute those behind the scams, the majesty of the law is rubbished by incompetent prosecution that ensures that convicted persons get only a slap on the wrist. Under the Jonathan administration, the more money you steal, the less punishment you receive.
“Profligacy has also been the order of the day. If this government is not building a N2.2 billion banquet hall, it is spending N4 billion on the office building of the African First Ladies Peace Mission. The funds being wasted on these white elephant projects would have been better spent on creating jobs for our youths, millions of whom are roaming the streets daily in search of what to do to make ends meet,” the party said. On the road contracts awarded by the Jonathan administration, it said the joke was on Okupe, who, in saner climes, could not be speaking for any government that was worth its salt.

“There is nothing new about awarding contracts for road rehabilitation. What the public expects from Okupe is how many of the roads have been completed or are nearing completion?” ACN queried. The contracts for most of the roads, which Okupe listed in his statement have been awarded severally by previous PDP regimes, with nothing to show. Even Okupe has collected huge funds for road contracts that he later abandoned. How then can such contracts be celebrated, when all they do is put money in the pockets of party cronies?
How can such a man like Okupe speak for any serious government, when he should have been dutifully prosecuted? Little wonder the citizens have no trust in the Jonathan Administration?” ACN queried.
While a security crisis of the scale perpetrated by Boko Haram might be unprecedented in our country, equally unfathomable was the government’s inability to rise to the occasion, to such an extent that even the President admitted that his administration had been infiltrated by Boko Haram members.
“Of course, there is also unprecedented cases of kidnapping and armed robbery, all of which have overwhelmed the clueless government. “Overall, a government that lies to its citizens by either saying it had been hailed for its anti-corruption effort by Transparency International when that is not the case, or giving an exaggerated amount of electricity that has been generated cannot get much respect from the people. “A government that sends conflicting signals to foreign investors, in particular over whether or not the power contract awarded to Canadian firm, Manitoba has been cancelled, cannot and should not be trusted.
“The Jonathan Administration should address the issue of trust, chase away those among its officials who lack credibility because of their past deeds and begin to take governance very seriously. Then and only then, will it not have to worry about what label an imaginary opposition is putting on the government,” ACN said.
DailyPost