I once read somewhere that “development is the gradual emergence of a problem-solving system”.
Nigeria is fraught with problems, the tooth-achy type that seem to last for ever. Power failure, crumbling infrastructure, failing institutions, etc.
Half a century down the road, can one say Nigeria has developed over the year?
Has any problem-solving system emerged since 1960 when the Brits passed on the baton? Food for thought!
Argentina's Gabriel Heinze (l.) celebrates with team mate Martin Demichelis after scoring the opening goal during the Argentina vs. Nigeria 2010 World Cup soccer match in Johannesburg, Saturday. Luca Bruno/AP
Losing in a soccer game is really no big deal, particularly against a world class team as the Diego Madonna-coached side. What is a big deal was the manner the game was lost: through a most uninspiring performance that lacked gusto and focus. Continue reading…
Nigeria finished its outing at the Beijing Olympics with one silver and two bronze medals. The men’s soccer team played 0-1 with Argentina at the finals.
Here is a video highlight of the match:
AfricanLoft has some additional coverage of most of the African nations at the Beijing Olympics.
Beijing Olympics: Nigeria meets Ivory Coast at the quarter-finals, and will proceed to the semi-finals. I predict.
Watch the highlights of the soccer matches:
Nigeria vs. USA
Lopez Lomong story started when he escaped from captivity in Sudan at age six. His story could have been like the unfortunate thousands of the Darfur genocide.
Lopez spent some 10 years in one of the harshest environment imaginable- a Kenyan refugee camp where he made do with a ration of one meal a day.
During the 2000 Olympics, he chose to walk five miles to watch the Michael Johnson run. He got hooked from that day on. His dream was to be an Olympian.
Fate smiled on him and he found new home in Syracuse USA, where a foster parent made a choice to raise him.
When the Beijing Olympics opened several hours ago in China, Lopez, now a professional runner, was nominated as the flag bearer for the American team.
The message is clear.
Watch CNN video footage of Lomong talk about this experience. AfricanLoft has additional coverage:
The Boston Celtics crushed the LA Lakers to win the 2008 NBA championship. By the time the buzzer sounded for the last time, the score was a stunning 131-92!
It was remarkable watching the Lakers being buried, but seeing Kevin Garnett (KG, above) shed profuse tears of joy was priceless.
Why?
I watched KG struggle here in Minnesota – several frustrating hard years without a championship ring, and with a team going nowhere – before being traded to the Celtics last year.
What was clear after the game is that success is indeed sweet. No doubt. And and one doesn’t need to imagine how KG felt to embrace the Hall of Famer Bill Russell (a former Celtics Center) after the game, saying “I got my own. I got my own”.
KG-the-Big-Ticket as we fondly call him here in Minnesota has fought several great fights since 1995, the year he got drafted straight from high school into the NBA, but when his moment came 13 years later, it came with a bang!
Kevin and his team mates pushed the Celtics to its 17th win, 23 years after its last championship, on the 17th day of June, with a 39-point victory! KG is back, baby!!!
