Nigeria vs Mexico- international friendly.

Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas is the stage as Mexico and Nigeria clash in an international friendly.

Both sides have incredibly busy summers, and will be keen to set the tone with a win. A poor performance for either nation could have a critical effect on World Cup qualification and the imminent Confederations Cup.

After an uninspiring recent run and an unhappy atmosphere invading both camp and federation, El Tri will be keen to do their talking on the pitch. Usually so lethal, the Mexicans’ attacking options have been muted in recent times, and boss Jose Manuel dela Torre urgently needs to sort this out.

His insistence on the presence of Giovani dos Santos is a major statement of intent.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing for Nigeria since their cathartic Cup of Nations victory back in February. The NFF have endured disputes with coach Stephen Keshi, who himself has fallen out with several senior players—including skipper Joseph Yobo.

After a disappointing home draw with Kenya in the African World Cup qualifiers, the pressure is on both manager and team to reignite their stalling momentum. The absence of Victor Moses, Kalu Uche and Emmanuel Emenike is a major blow, but perhaps not fatal—this generation of Nigerians possesses enough class and vigor to cause the Mexicans problems.

Time 2:00 am Saturday Nigeria time. 8:00 pm Houston USA

Line up

Goalkeepers: Guillermo Ochoa (Ajaccio), Jesús Corona (Cruz Azul), Alfredo Talavera (Toluca)

Defenders: Severo Meza (Monterrey), Francisco Javier "Maza" Rodríguez (América), Héctor Moreno (Espanyol), Diego Reyes (América), Jorge Torres Nilo (Tigres UANL), Carlos Salcido (Tigres UANL), Hiram Mier (Monterrey)

Midfielders: Jesús Zavala (Monterrey), Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Jesús Molina (América), Héctor Herrera (Pachuca), Javier Aquino (Villarreal), Andrés Guardado (Valencia), Ángel Reyna (Pachuca), Pablo Barrera (Cruz Azul)

Forwards: Giovani dos Santos (Mallorca), Oribe Peralta (Santos Laguna), Javier Hernández (Manchester United), Raúl Jiménez (América), Aldo de Nigris (Monterrey)

Nigeria (4-4-2): Enyeama; Kwambe, Obobona, Omeruo, Echiejile; Oduamadi, Ogu, Onazi, Mba; Ujah, Ideye

Line up

Goalkeepers: Chigozie Agbim (Warri Wolves), Austin Ejide (Hapoel), Vincent Enyeama (Maccabi Tel Aviv)

Defenders: Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves), Efe Ambrose (Celtic), Elderson Echiéjilé (Sporting de Braga), Kenneth Omeruo (ADO Den Haag), Godfrey Oboabona (Sunshine Stars), Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars), Francis Benjamin (Heartland F.C.), Odunlami Kunle (Sunshine Stars FC)

Midfielders: John Mikel Obi (Chelsea), Victor Moses (Chelsea), Ogenyi Onazi (Lazio), John Ogu (Academia de Coimbra), Obinna Nwachukwu (Heartland), Sunday Mba (Enugu Rangers), Michael Babatunde (Kryvbas Kryvyi), Reuben Gabriel (Kilmarnock)

Forwards: Joseph Akpala (SV Werder Bremen), Brown Ideye (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Anthony Ujah (FC Koln), Nnamdi Oduamadi (Varese), Kalu Uche (Kasımpaşa Spor Kulübü), Gambo Muhammad (Kano Pillars F.C.)

This will be a great test for the big Boss. I wish him and the Super eagles good luck.

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK MEET IN MOROCCO.

*UN Report says Africa’s resources can fuel economic transformation; but growth must be broadened to reduce poverty, create more jobs*

Bloomberg/Businessweek, UN News Centre, AfDB (May 27, 2013) — African governments risk losing the economic gains they’ve made unless countries broaden the base of growth by educating poor children and creating jobs, said African Development Bank (AfDB) President Donald Kaberuka, as the AfDB’s 48th annual meetings began today in Marrakech, Morocco.

Some 2,500 participants are attending the five-day AfDB meetings — including heads of state, finance ministers, central bank governors, and other delegates – which are focused on the need for Africa to turn economic growth into truly shared and sustainable economic transformation in the next half century.

Setting the stage for the gathering, the African Economic Outlook 2013 report was released in Morocco today by the United Nations, AfDB, and its partners, stating that African countries must take full advantage of their agricultural, mining and energy natural resources to accelerate the pace of growth and ensure the process can benefit ordinary Africans. The new report stresses that this must be accompanied by inclusive social policies that seek to reduce inequality in the continent.

Countries that don’t bring more people into the economy may end up in a middle-income trap, in which productivity and income growth can stall as annual per capita incomes reach $5,000 to $10,000, Kaberuka said in an interview at the African Union summit in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. “Unless you broaden the base, you include more people, you actually get stuck,” he said on May 25.

Africa is the world’s second-most inequitable region after Latin America, the African Development Bank said in a report last year. In 2010, six out of the 10 most unequal countries worldwide were in southern Africa, the Tunis-based lender said. “The biggest single important thing to do to ensure inclusive growth is to make sure that the children of poor people end up in education,” Kaberuka said. “That is how you break the inter-generational transmission of poverty.”

Economic growth in Africa averaged 5.2 percent from 2003 to 2011, while average gross domestic product per capita on the continent stood at $3,025, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“Now is the time to step up the tempo of economic transformation, so that African economies become more competitive and create more gainful jobs,” said the authors of the new African Economic Outlook, adding that “widening the sources of economic activity is fundamental to meeting this challenge.”

The report says the continent’s economic prospects for 2013 and 2014 are promising, with the economy projected to grow by 4.8 per cent the first year and accelerate further to 5.3 per cent the next. However, it emphasizes that economic growth alone will no be enough to reduce poverty, tackle persistent unemployment, and address income inequalities and deteriorating levels of health and education.

AfDB’s annual meeting in Marrakech will explore new ideas & set out concrete actions to help transform Africa’s economic boom into sustainable and inclusive growth. AfDB

“Growth is not enough,” said Mario Pezzini, Director at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Centre. “African countries must provide the right conditions for turning natural resources into jobs, optimise their resource revenues through smart taxation and help investors and locals to make the most of linkages.”

According to the new report, four key elements are necessary for inclusive growth. These consist of: creating the right conditions for transformation including infrastructure and the creation of more competitive markets; implementing more effective tax systems as well as improving land management; ensuring proceeds from natural resources are invested in projects that benefit civil society; and actively fostering economic diversification.

“Ultimately, transformation means opening opportunities so people can find jobs, create businesses, as well as invest in health, education and food security. In turn, higher levels of human development for all, including the most vulnerable, can accelerate the pace of economic transformation, leading to a virtuous cycle of growth and development,” the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said in a news release.

The UN report is produced annually by AfDB, UNDP, the Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

Failure to generate equitable growth could result in “a demographic disaster marked by rising levels of youth unemployment, social dislocation and hunger,” said former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who chairs the Africa Progress Panel.

“The quality of growth and the sustainability of growth” are the two main issues confronting Africa today, AfDB President, Donald Kaberuka, said May 25 at the African Union meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. AfDB’s Annual Meetings are being held at a crucial time. For Kaberuka, “Africa is rising, and it needs a push. The rest of the world is languishing, and it too needs a push. Africa needs the world, and the world needs Africa. Each can give the other a push.”

“We have the will, we have the systems, but we still don’t have all the funds. The Bank can work magic with what it is given, raising nine dollars for every one of its own,” Kaberuka added.

African states should adopt policies like former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s program to pay families to keep children in school, Kaberuka said. Two donor-funded programs that provide cash transfers for work to low-income Ethiopian families and its government’s focus on education and supporting farmers are the right approaches, he said.

“They are putting in place in my judgment one of the most interesting social safety nets that combines everything,” he said. “If you can figure out how to do agriculture, education and small businesses you are truly on the way.”

The Marrakech meetings will also involve the AfDB Board of Governors decision on the Bank’s return to its original headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

My thoughts on this?

well i believe this is a much needed meeting for Africa. My hope is that the things that needs to be sorted out in other to pave way for the much awaited development in Africa, improvement of livelihood and the eradication of poverty which currently are some of the challenges that seems not to have solution on our continent be thoroughly trashed. What do you think?

Jada and the Cruise' family

NEW YORK — Jada Pinkett Smith says good friend Katie Holmes is an equal partner in her marriage with Tom Cruise.

“People think Tom and the Church of Scientology got something on Kate? They don’t,” the 35-year-old actress and wife of Will Smith tells People.com in a story posted Thursday. “Kate is running her own show. And she’s a great mother. Her kids — Connor, Bella, Suri — are dynamic children and are extremely happy. And her husband is very, very happy.”

Pinkett Smith denies reports that Holmes, 28, is a prisoner in her marriage to the 44-year-old actor, who’s been depicted by the tabloids as a controlling husband.

“It burns my soul — I see her in the house with Tom; he doesn’t have that on her! ... Let me tell you: Kate ain’t no little wimpy kitty cat,” says Pinkett Smith, who also calls Holmes a “tigress.”

The Smiths — close friends of the Cruise-Holmes clan — attended the couple’s lavish wedding in Italy last year. Pinkett Smith says Holmes “did not break a sweat” amid the media frenzy.

 Slideshow: Celebrity Sightings Dark-haired, blue-eyed Suri was born last year — again, media frenzy. Cruise has two children, Isabella and Connor, from his previous marriage to Nicole Kidman.

“She’s young, she popped into motherhood very fast,” Pinkett Smith says of Holmes. “If you think about the transition she’s done, with as much grace she’s had, and on top of it with the attacks — I don’t know how she does it.”

Pinkett Smith says she’s amazed “how people want to focus on ‘She’s tied up in the basement and he throws steaks to her at night and she gets to see Suri only on Sundays.’ It’s ridiculous.”

My thoughts on this story is kind off controversial, but i had like to hear what you have to say. leave your comment here and  tell me what you really think about people needing to be asked from outside to endorse other people's marriage.

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bonus

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