Ghana-Nigeria 2000 Africa Cup of Nations silver medallist Jonathan Akpoborie feels Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi made the right decision by inviting Joseph Yobo to the Super Eagles, but says the on-loan Norwich defender must not walk into the squad for the summer's World Cup in Brazil.
Akpoborie insists Yobo, who has not played for Nigeria since he helped the Eagles win the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, must prove himself worthy of a place on Keshi's roster for the World Cup.
Yobo was invited for Wednesday's friendly game against Mexico in Atlanta, United States, but the former Everton player was ruled out of the encounter with injury sustained against Aston Villa in their Premier League clash on Sunday.
"Yobo's return to the Premier League (on-loan from Fenerbahce) is very good for his career and I'm happy with his decision," former Nigeria forward Akpoborie told our correspondent on the telephone during the week.
"Since he returned to the Premier League from the Turkish league, he has played very well – proving he still has a lot to offer.
"I'm also happy that Keshi has decided to give him a chance to come back to the national team.
"But Yobo must show he wants to play in the World Cup – he must show hunger for it (a World Cup place).
"He must show in the friendly games (ahead of the World Cup) that he's not finished yet as some people believe. He must prove he's good enough to be selected for the World Cup.
"His experience will help the Eagles in Brazil but he must fight his way into the World Cup squad."
The former VfL Wolfsburg star disagreed with Keshi over the 2013 CAF Coach of the Year award winner's decision to leave Villarreal forward Ikechukwu Uche out of his 23-man squad for the World Cup, saying "I don't understand why he doesn't want him (Uche)".
Keshi had accused the 30-year-old attacker of lacking respect for his teammates as well as ignoring instructions on the pitch.
HE BEAT ME WITH WIRE, UNTIL I COULD NOT SIT ANYMORE - EIGHT Year old Househelp.
It took a while to rouse eight-year-old Sophia Shaidu, as she lay on her stomach on a bed in the children's ward of the Aniyun Hospital, Gbagada, Lagos.
The nurse who had taken our correspondent in to see her was happy that the girl could at least fall asleep after days of excruciating pains that kept her awake.
"Some people are here to talk to you," she was told.
Sophia spoke only Ebira language. She does not understand English; not even pidgin English because her guardian did not enrol her in school after she was brought to Lagos to work as a housemaid about three years ago.
So, our correspondent was only able to speak to her through an interpreter.
One thing was immediately clear when Sophia finally sat up with a considerable pain: dark marks dotted her body from her neck to her ankle.
She hung her left arm awkwardly, which made her flinch at the nurse's touch.
"We are planning to do an X-ray on the arm. It's likely she has a fracture there," the nurse said.
"The marks on my body are from beatings," the girl later explained.
Sophia said that after one of such beatings, she had not been able to use her left arm, which was now swollen, hard and discoloured at the elbow area.
The girl pointed accusing fingers at her guardian, Bashir Shuaibu, who is from Kogi State.
But what brought Sophia to the hospital was more dire and life-threatening than just the marks on her body and the fractured arm.
The little girl has a gash that is about six inches in diametre on her buttocks. It was created by sore, said to have developed after several beatings by Shuaibu.
Sophia said each time he spanked her, her buttocks swelled up and before it healed up, he spanked her again.
She told our correspondent that her parents asked her to live with him to make a living.
She said, "We are not related. My parents asked me to live with him in Lagos so that I could work and make money to take care of myself.
"He beat me almost every day and I don't usually know what I did wron
RAPE SCANDAL: We Had mutual sex-OBESERE
Popular fuji musician, Abass Akande, better known as Obesere, has denied the rape allegation leveled against him, claiming that he and the lady had a mutual sex.
Earlier in the week, one Olanike Olaiya, a National Diploma graduate of business administration from Ibadan Polytechnic, had reported to the police that the artiste forcefully had sex with her and in the process, inserted a ring into her private part which caused her to bleed.
Speaking to Saturday Beats later in the week, Obesere admitted getting to know the lady recently but said the sexual aspect of the relationship was consensual.
"A friend of mine, Alhaja Bola Omowo introduced Nike to me barely two weeks ago. Obesere Rising, a product, is coming to Nigeria, Alhaja told me that Nike would want to be one of the marketers. From there, we became friends."
Obesere denied asking Nike to sleep over in his house as she reported in her petition.
"She spent two days in my house and she felt at home. So, how could I have raped her? Why didn't she shout while I was 'raping' her? She was the one that went to the kitchen and cooked and I ate all she prepared in those two days.
"Why would I force any lady to sleep over in my house when there are so many other ladies begging to sleep in my house? I took her as my girlfriend and a sister. I even left her at home and went out the second day. She was the one that called me while I was away that she needed to get to Ibadan."
Obsere said he was surprised when the lady called him to say she was ill.
"She said she was seeing something strange in her body. I told her to tell Alhaja that introduced her to me to take her to the hospital. She said she didn't want to do that as Alhaja might broadcast it to everybody that she slept in my house. I called Alhaja and she told me nothing was wrong with Nike. Alhaja eventually asked me if I was a 'mugu.' Alhaja was the one that told me that Nike had suggested a plan for the two of them to blackmail me of N5m to N10m.
WHERE HOMOSEXUALITY STRIVES IN LAGOS
There is no doubt that pockets of gay people in the country would be living in fear as a result of a recent law that criminalise homosexuality in Nigeria, with the possibility of 14 years imprisonment.
Aware of how dangerous this kind of curiosity could be, our correspondent went under the guise of being a model looking for where to have fun and also "organise" young men and women for his homosexual clients.
The bar, which is located next to a popular petrol station in the area, brings to mind the popular saying that the best way to hide anything is to put it in plain sight.
Dressed casually to blend with the crowd, our correspondent learnt on getting to the bar that a 24-year-old young man owns and runs the place.
Stoutly built with an average height of about five feet, the bar owner's (name withheld) feminine disposition seemed to suggest that he might be gay.
Still apprehensive about a possible raid, our correspondent asked if the place had ever been raided by the police.
"No, my shop is very safe and has not been raided before," the owner replied.
Outside the bar, left-over decorations used during the last Christmas hung on the grey double-leaf metal door outside.
To any observer, the bar is like any regular hang-out spot but visitors would immediately be conscious of the peculiarity that would suggest that this might be a gay bar.
Our correspondent learnt that on a good business day, homosexuality, prostitution and Indian hemp smoking thrive in the bar.
But during our reporter's first visit around 8pm, the pub was not full. It had just three young men who were in their early twenties in it, apart from the owner.
Two of the men seemed to be the bar owner's friends from the way they acted, and the fourth, a dark-skinned, scruffy looking man wearing dreadlocks sat by the wall, enjoying the music blaring from the only two speakers in the pub.
The squalid cubicle-size bar can only accommodate a table with about ten chairs arranged round it.
The coloured lights in the bar made it impossible to determine the colour of the interior. Even though there was no television, guests had to manage the non-stop party music. It was later learnt that those who could did what they could.......
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Happy sunday!!!
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