Jerry Douglas' Blog

If football is a religion for many of its fans, for some of those studying in the seminaries of Vatican City, religion is also football. The Clericus Cup is an annual five-a-side tournament involving seminarians and priests in the Catholic Church’s equivalent of the Champions League. The tournament is hotly contested with 16 teams and more than 70 different countries represented. Organised into a series of league and play-off games, the Cup sees teams take on each other in highly competitive yet good-natured and brotherly games of football until one of them is eventually crowned champion.

Brazilian prison inmate trying to escape from a jail outside the capital city of Brasilia got stuck in a hole in wall, prompting prison guards to snap these photographs.

President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Aminu Maigari, has given Stephen Keshi a ray of hope that he will remain the head coach of the Super Eagles even if he fails to impress the nation at the 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa. Speaking on a Supersport programme yesterday, Maigari said it was not in the NFF’s character to sack national team coaches unceremoniously after failing to fulfill their contractual obligations. The NFF bigwig said Keshi had been given everything to succeed with the team in South Africa, adding that he has no doubt about Keshi’s capabilities. “We have absolute confidence in Keshi that was why we employed him in the first instance. We strongly believe he has what it takes to build a solid team for the Nations Cup and we hope to see Eagles in flying colours in South Africa,” he said. Maigari said the federation had no plans to sack Keshi after the 2013 Nations Cup experience as he is expected to lead the team to the 2014 World...

President Goodluck Jonathan has relieved Mrs. Rosemary Chinyere Uzoma of her duties as the Comptroller General of Immigration Service and has appointed Mr. Rilwan Bala Musa to replace her in acting capacity. Musa’s appointment was contained a statement signed by the Director/Secretary, Civil Defence, Fire Service, Immigration and Prisons Board (CDFIPB), Dr. K.R. Attahiru for the Minister of interior/ Chairman CDFIPB. Comrade Abba Moro. The latter, until this appoint was the most senior Deputy Comptroller of Immigration Service. The statement signed on the minister’s behalf, read thus: "I am directed to convey approval of His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele, GCFR President, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for you (Mrs. Rose Chinyere Uzoma) to proceed on your pre retirement accumulated leaves. "I am to further convey that you are to hand over the duties and responsibilities of your office on or Wednesday, 16th January, 2013 to...

The Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, has quietly commenced preparations to run for the presidency in 2015, confirming speculations that he is among the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governors getting set to run against President Goodluck Jonathan to get the party’s ticket, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt. PDP Governors are currently in a running battle with President Goodluck Jonathan over control of the party. While the governors want the National Chairman of the Party, Bamanga Tukur to exit from office, Mr. Tukur has the backing of the president. The crisis has already led to the replacement of the National Secretary of the Party, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, with his deputy after a court annulled Mr. Oyinlola’s election. Mr. Oyinlola, the immediate past Governor of Osun State, is seen as the arrowhead of the anti-Bamanga faction within the leadership of the party, and has gone to the Appeal Court to challenge his removal. As reported by PREMIUM TIMES, the ongoing crisis, though oc...

10 killed as Fulani herdsmen sack village Over 5,000 residents displaced No fewer than 10 people were reported killed in Agbashi, Ekya Development Area of Nasarawa State in a renewed clash between the people of the area and Fulani herdsmen. The people of Agbashi deserted their village, as Fulani herdsmen attacked the village in the early hours of yesterday killing 10 and, leaving several others with injuries. Over 5, 000 residents were displaced. When Daily Sun visited the area, it was gathered that the attack was a repraisal by the Fulani for the killing last week of their kinsmen. It was also gathered that many of the villagers had run for dear lifeto nearby towns like Doma, Lafia and Makurdi, the Benue State capital. The victims of the incident who were mostly women, children and the aged trekked several kilometers into their safety. Speaking to Daily Sun, a resident of the area who did not want his name in print said he could not ascertain the number of people killed in...

The prompt intervention of officers and men of the Kebbi State Police Command on Monday saved the lives of officials at the office of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Birnin Kebbi. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the office was attacked by scores of irate okada riders who were protesting alleged maltreatment of their members. The okada riders were said to have been involved in a traffic accident allegedly caused by officials of the FRSC in the town. The okada riders also wanted to burn down the FRSC office during their protest before they were stopped by the police. Consequently, scores of patrol vehicles of the FRSC have now been parked in the premises of the 1 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Dukku Barracks. Also members of staff of the FRSC have abandoned their office in the city for safety reasons. The FRSC Sector Commander in Kebbi, Mr Seyi Daniel, confirmed that about 300 angry commercial motorcyclists attempted to manhandle road safety marshals a...

Is the Presidency confused as to the exact state of health of the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan or is this part of plans to continue the game of hide and seek that has since come to be associated with news of her ill-health? On Monday, the presidency came out to dispel the notion that the first lady had been flown abroad for treatment maintaining that she is hale and hearty. According to the president’s spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, the first lady is in a good state of health as “everybody saw her in the church on Sunday”. However, compared to her principal media aide Ayo Osinlu, who said that he couldn’t tell of her movements because he was not in Abuja at the moment and the revelation by a Presidency source who said that she only travelled for a “check-up, nothing more”, someone is hiding the truth from Nigerians and the presidency is helping to fuel the speculations by singing discordant tunes.

According to World Health Organization there are brain habits that will damage the brain severely and needs to be avoided. 1. No Breakfast – People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration. 2. Overreacting – It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power. 3. Smoking – It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease. 4. High Sugar consumption – Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development. 5. Air Pollution – The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency. 6. Sleep Deprivation – Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells. 7. Head covered while ...

DEPUTY Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Dr. Mato Dogara Deputy Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Dr. Mato Dogara, and six former officials of Lere Local Government, Kaduna State, were on Monday arraigned before Federal High Court, Kaduna for alleged conspiracy and fraud amounting to N30m. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arraigned the accused before Justice Marcellous Awokulehin, alleging that the accused defrauded the state government of N30m through fraudulent award of contracts between May 2011 and March 2012. Related News:  EFCC To Arraign Deputy Speaker, LG Boss Over N17m Scam Those arraigned along with Dogara were Kabiru Tahir, former interim committee Chairman of the council; Ahmed Yahya, former Director of Finance, and Billy Graham, former Director of Works. Others were Yushau Aboki, ex-Director of Personnel; Hannatu Iliya, Head of Health, and Eric Alhassan, former acting Chairman. All the accused pleaded not guilty...

There have been a number of high-profile incidents of racism in the last 18 months and there was fresh debate about the issue when AC Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng and his team-mates recently walked off the pitch during a friendly after receiving abuse from the terraces. Blatter reiterated his view that other players should not follow Boateng's lead by leaving the field, but he did repeat previous pledges to remove racism from the sport. FIFA last week ordered the Bulgarian and Hungarian football associations to play a game behind closed doors in response to racist incidents and Blatter believes this punishment should serve as a warning that severe action will be taken. During a Special Report interview with Sky Sports News, Blatter said: "I think we can never do enough to eradicate all the racism in football. "We have already tried and you have given, in Great Britain, the best example of how to eradicate violence in football with the modern stadia, w...

Convener, Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has criticised President Goodluck Jonathan over his silence on “absentee” governors. The Serving Overseer of The Latter Rain Assembly said this in Lagos on Monday during a roundtable dialogue to mark the first anniversary of Occupy Nigeria, with the theme, ‘Nigeria’s Fiscal and Monetary Crisis: The Way Out’. Bakare said the SNG came into existence in January 2010 when some politicians, in the name of representing the ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua, held the country hostage. Others who spoke on the occasion were the Chairman, Editorial Board, Punch Newspapers, Mr. Segun Adediran; and President, Women Arise, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin. Bakare said, “It is sad that three years later, the sad history of that era is repeating itself in some states of the federation, namely Taraba, Cross River and Enugu. It was a terrible déjà vu when the ghost-like picture of Taraba governor, Mr. Danbaba Suntai, recently appeared on the front pages of...

A Peoples Democratic Party stalwart in Ogun State, Buruji Kashamu, on Monday faulted former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his comment on the activities of rich politicians in the state. Kashamu also accused the former President of working for the re-election of his Owu kinsman, Governor Ibikunle Amosun, in 2015. Obasanjo was said to have stated this when some party members from Ogun West Senatorial District visited him at his Abeokuta residence. Kashamu, in a statement, said it was laughable that the former President could now denounce the same people who funded his election and long political battles against the Gbenga Daniel administration. Obasanjo had last week warned PDP members against being used by moneybags whom he said were bent on deceiving the people in order to deprive them of a better future. Kashamu said, “Was it not moneybags politicians that bankrolled his elections the first and second term? Was it not the same people he hob-nobbed with when it was conve...

Gunmen suspected to be assassins have killed the Editor of an Onitsha-based newspaper, Anambra News, Mr. IK Udendu. According to family sources, his killers who dumped his body at Afor Nkpor after killing him, must have shot the journalist on Saturday night. The sources said Udendu must have been killed on his way back home to Ogidi, near Onitsha after he had gone to Onitsha to monitor the printing of the newspaper. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Udendu’s elder brother, Chukwulozie, who is publisher of the newspaper, said the body of his brother had been deposited at Iyi-Enu Hospital Mortuary, Ogidi for autopsy. Chukwulozie, who said he received an anonymous phone call on Saturday night telling him to pick his brother’s corpse at Afor Nkpor, noted that the journalist had no misunderstanding with anybody that could warrant his murder. The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ballah Nasarawa, who expressed concern over the incident, promised to bring the culprits to book.

The sack of Oyinlola appears to have shut all doors to peace efforts at resolving the PDP crisis.  Bamanga Tukur, the embattled chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, pulled a surprise punch Monday, swearing in a replacement for the party secretary, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, in a festering party crisis pitting him and President Goodluck Jonathan, against state governors and former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Mr. Oyinlola, the immediate past Governor of Osun State, was sacked Friday by a Federal High Court in Abuja, which ruled his election violated the party’s stipulated procedure, and flouted two court rulings. The court said Mr. Oyinlola was never qualified to be elected party secretary, in a suit filed by a factional Chairman of Ogun PDP, Adebayo Dayo. In a statement he personally signed, Mr. Tukur directed hitherto deputy secretary, Solomon Onwe, to take over as acting secretary of the party. He did not give reasons for the decision, and did not reference the cou...

He is 65. He is at an age when his peers have started coming to terms with the onset of old age. It is an age when his contemporaries have started seeing their grand children, some luckier ones, great grand children. Paradoxically, it is an age Sat Guru Maharaj Ji, the Ibadan, Oyo State-based self-acclaimed Living Perfect Master, has come out to shock the world with an unabashed antagonism to the sacred institution of marriage. In a recent encounter with the bearded one at his hilltop commune on the outskirts of the Oyo State capital, the reclusive spiritualist declared that, for him, marriage is a taboo. It is a no-go area. He has never given it a thought and never will do so because, to him, marriage is an unnecessary distraction. “I challenge anybody who says she is Maharaj Ji’s wife to come out,” he declared matter-of-factly. “I challenge anybody who says she has children for Maharaj Ji to come out. I don’t have any biological children. My children are my followers. I’m t...

The protocol officer to the Imo State Deputy Governor, Chief Laz Anyanwu was yesterday evening found dead in Owerri four days after he was reportedly kidnapped near Government House, Owerri, the Imo State capital. Anyanwu, a former director of administration and services in Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area was discovered dead along a bush path at Nwaoriebe in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State yesterday afternoon. It was gathered that the late Anyanwu was kidnapped near the government house last Friday evening without a trace as to his whereabouts until he was found dead.  Governor Rochas Okorocha, who was to address stakeholders’ meeting at the government house was visibly shaken when the body of the late Mr Anyanwu was conveyed to the government house. It was gathered that no ransom was demanded for his release, a development which government sources said raised suspicion that his death was politically motivated.

Echoing the need for accountability, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) has charged the Federal Government to update the citizenry on the whereabouts of the $26.5 million Halliburton plea bargain. The ANPP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Emma Eneukwu, noted with concern that since October last year, when President Goodluck Jonathan directed the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, to fish out the missing $26.5 million plea bargain returned to the government by Julius Berger with regard to the Halliburton bribery scandal, the AGF was yet to embark on any visible action to this effect, neither have Nigerians seen the money. The party said the action further buttressed the fact that the government was simply paying lip service to its claim that it was keen on stamping out corruption in the polity. It noted: "We believe that this calls to question the much vaunted fight against corruption by the present PDP-led Governme...

Pastor Tunde Bakare lashed out at Pastors  Yesterday accusing them of aiding and abetting crime  that has brought the nation to the present state of disrepute and becoming renown for corruption, while delivering a speech in preparation for the first anniversary of the Occupy Nigeria Protest in Lagos. The clergyman said “The church has failed the nation. Worst oppression is going on in the churches today. Most churches encourage corrupt leaders by failing to tell them the truth and collecting their money. ” ‘Corruption and the Soul of the Nation’, the lawyer regretted that corruption had robbed the country of the chance to realise its potential. On Corruption he said, “It cripples a nation’s character and drains her of substance. We are confronted daily with news and reports of executive corruption in high places, assaulted with a legal system that has long lost respect for the sacredness of justice. “We have resorted to worshipping and preserving certain sacred cows an...

Mourinho has been under fire in Madrid in recent months with his side currently trailing La Liga leaders Barcelona by 18 points. The former Chelsea boss has also endured a difficult relationship with the Spanish media, and he appears certain to leave the Bernabeu at the end of the season. In a video message to the FA, which will form part of their 150th anniversary launch on Wednesday, Mourinho said: "There could not be a better place to go. "In England you feel the real passion for the game. It's not just about passion for clubs, it's mainly about passion for football. "My memories are great. I loved it from the first day to the last. I don't regret my last day because after that I was lucky enough to enjoy Italy and to have and enjoy some success there and also in Spain. "But I know that one day I will come back because English football means a lot to myself." Mourinho also spoke about the magic of the FA Cup - the last piece of si...