Monday, 13 March 2017
Rangers can perform Barca feat against Zamalek –Ocheme
Enugu Rangers central attacker, Edoh Ocheme has said his side are capable of upturning the huge deficit against the Egyptian giants, Zamalek Sporting Club.
The Nigerian champions went down 1-4 to the Mediterranean Knights in Sunday’s Caf Champions League first round fixture clash at the Al Salam Stadium in Cairo.
Ocheme however admitted that the goal margin is quite massive but insisted that nothing is impossible in the round leather game.
“I’m still confused how we conceded those number of goals. I think the goals are simply too many.
“I never thought we could concede more than a goal in the encounter. I wept profusely when the goals kept coming. We were three goals down in the first 45 minutes.
“Well, we have come to accept the outcome as no amount of crying could change the result of the match.
“Right now, we have our jobs well cut out as we must score at least three unreplied goals to progress to the next stage of the competition.
“The task looks daunting but not insurmountable once we are able to do the needful as well as prepare adequately for the reverse fixture clash.
“All hopes are not lost as we are quite capable of scoring the three mandatory goals in the first 45 minutes just as Zamalek SC performed at their backyard in Cairo.
“At least we have role models in Barcelona to copy and look up to as we get ready for the reverse clash.
“Barcelona have shown that in football nothing is conclusively done until it’s completely over.
“That’s the mentality we will bring into the second leg coupled with some self-belief I’m sure we will upturn the disadvantage to advance to the next stage of the competition.
The post Rangers can perform Barca feat against Zamalek –Ocheme appeared first on Vanguard News.
Vía Vanguard News http://ift.tt/2nnFavu
Sunday, 12 March 2017
Friday, 10 March 2017
Mona Lisa’s smile decoded: science says she’s happy
The subject of centuries of scrutiny and debate, Mona Lisa’s famous smile is routinely described as ambiguous. But is it really that hard to read?
Apparently not.
In an unusual trial, close to 100 percent of people described her expression as unequivocally “happy”, researchers revealed on Friday.
“We really were astonished,” neuroscientist Juergen Kornmeier of the University of Freiburg in Germany, who co-authored the study, told AFP.
Kornmeier and a team used what is arguably the most famous artwork in the world in a study of factors that influence how humans judge visual cues such as facial expressions.
Known as La Gioconda in Italian, the Mona Lisa is often held up as a symbol of emotional enigma.
The portrait appears to many to be smiling sweetly at first, only to adopt a mocking sneer or sad stare the longer you look.
Using a black and white copy of the early 16th century masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci, a team manipulated the model’s mouth corners slightly up and down to create eight altered images — four marginally but progressively “happier”, and four “sadder” Mona Lisas.
A block of nine images were shown to 12 trial participants 30 times.
In every showing, for which the pictures were randomly reshuffled, participants had to describe each of the nine images as happy or sad.
“Given the descriptions from art and art history, we thought that the original would be the most ambiguous,” Kornmeier said.
Instead, “to our great astonishment, we found that Da Vinci’s original was… perceived as happy” in 97 percent of cases.
– All in the context –
A second phase of the experiment involved the original Mona Lisa with eight “sadder” versions, with even more nuanced differences in the lip tilt.
In this test, the original was still described as happy, but participants’ reading of the other images changed.
“They were perceived a little sadder” than in the first experiment, said Kornmeier.
The findings confirm that “we don’t have an absolute fixed scale of happiness and sadness in our brain” — and that a lot depends on context, the researcher explained.
“Our brain manages to very, very quickly scan the field. We notice the total range, and then we adapt our estimates” using our memory of previous sensory experiences, he said.
Understanding this process may be useful in the study of psychiatric disorders, said Kornmeier.
Affected people can have hallucinations, seeing things that others do not, which may be the result of a misalignment between the brain’s processing of sensory input, and perceptual memory.
A next step will be to do the same experiment with psychiatric patients.
Another interesting discovery was that people were quicker to identify happier Mona Lisas than sad ones.
This suggested “there may be a slight preference… in human beings for happiness, said Kornmeier.
As for the masterpiece itself, the team believe their work has finally settled a centuries-old question.
“There may be some ambiguity in another aspect,” said Kornmeier, but “not ambiguity in the sense of happy versus sad.”
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2nf9Yyk
A stranger can be your dream maker, Abudu tells women
Nigerian women in business have been advised to support one another to grow by employing women over men as a way to fix the patriarchal problems in the country.
Making the call yesterday in Lagos was Mosunmola Abudu who was the keynote speaker at the 2017 Women In Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) Conference held in Lagos tagged, ‘Bold Steps in the face of uncertainty’. The conference, which holds yearly, is to mark the International Women’s Day.
Present at the well-attended conference were Aisha Ahmad, the Chairperson of WimBiz, Chaiman/Publisher, Guardian Newspapers, Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru, Funmi Roberts, Audu Maikori (who was the co-moderator) and a host of others.
Urging women present to be more creative and look for every available opportunity, as they usually have to work twice harder than a man to be taken seriously, she advised her audience to seek profitable partnerships, engage and interact more with like minds that help in actualizing one’s dreams. Describing herself as a serial entrepreneur, she divulged further that not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur but are meant to be a part of a team and should strive to do their best wherever they find themselves.
Responding to a plethora of questions from the attendees, she revealed that finding one’s purpose is a very difficult process but youth gives one the opportunity to dream and explore several opportunities. Dishing out advice on handling the home-front with being a working mother, she talked extensively about failing, being sidelined and scheming in the business world. “If someone is scheming, please scheme right back. Scheming is a form of innovation,” she said.
On partners not supporting their working wives, she advised women to ensure their partner shares their vision and purpose so as to move ahead. She also talked about getting the right team as they could make or break a business.
“Be consistent and persistent. Finding your purpose is very difficult but the moment you do, hold on to it and live it. More importantly, be authentic as nobody can do what you want to do better than you can. Opportunities are out there, you need to go out there and seize it and even strangers can be your dream makers, can help you grow and succeed”
Co-moderator, businessman and C.E.O, Chocolate Music, Audu Maikori was also on hand to give practical tools for women’s growth and development. Advising the audience he said the first step was to write the vision down, then look out for opportunities before striving to expand the vision. “Partnerships are very necessary for growth. It’s also important to have a good team around you and don’t be greedy, share with them. Believe in your brand, document and execute your strategy as much as possible. Persistence is key, don’t take ‘no’ for an answer,” he said.
He also advised that getting testimonials from satisfied customers was a cheap way to advertise and told attendees to spend time with people that encourage one to grow at all times. He closed by telling the women present to share their success recipe with others to help them grow.
While fielding questions from the audience, Abudu, a mother of two, said that it was difficult being a working mother, but advised that one must find the best option that works. “I would always make sure that when my children need me, they come first, because children would always understand and appreciate when their mother is working hard. I make the effort to spend more time with them, and if I have to leave whatever I am doing today for them, believe me I would,” she added.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mLgAqp
Ahead of World Oral Health Day, NDA, Unilever seek to bridge the brushing behaviour gap
Nothing makes a patient healthier than an amazing set of healthy habits. Unfortunately, healthy habits are not always the easiest to come by. This is, especially, true for habits build around oral routine. While we all know how to keep our mouths healthy, there are very few, who are up to the challenge of maintaining impeccable oral health habit.
Brushing the teeth is one of the best habits that can be developed. However, many people’s habits with tooth brushing are bad. Hence, dentists and dental therapists are often asked the question, ‘what should be done to keep the teeth clean and free of diseases?’ It is on this premise that the Nigerian Dental Association (NDA), has recommended that people brush their teeth twice daily, using a fluoride toothpaste for fresh breath and to avoid dental diseases such as tooth decay, swollen gums, bad breath, sensitivity and tooth stains.
According to a research by NDA, the root of all dental evils is dental plaque, which is a sticky colourless film composed of bacteria, food debris and saliva. Dental plaque accumulates on your teeth and gums. The bacteria in plaque and food particles interact with sugars and starches we eat. This forms an acid that will eat away the enamel of our teeth and lead to dental caries/tooth decay.
The body noted that plaque, though can’t be rinsed off but can be removed by proper tooth brushing. And when it becomes hardened, it is known as tartar/calculus, which can only be removed by professional dental cleaning called scaling and polishing.
It further explained that poor oral hygiene would cause swollen gums, which may bleed. Eventually with time, the gums pull away from the teeth causing gaps or pockets and later the bone supporting the teeth are destroyed and teeth will become loose and may fall out.
Study have showed that tooth decay affects nearly all adults and 60 – 90 percent of children worldwide, with toothache being the number one reason for absenteeism from schools in many countries. Yet, it is largely preventable. In fact, further studies show that just brushing twice daily with fluoride toothpaste can reduce tooth decay by up to 50 percent in children, compared with only brushing once a day.
Just two years into the study, children who were participating had already experienced a significant reduction in dental cavities and nearly 20 years later, these same children are continuing to benefit. As adults, they have undergone nearly 20 percent fewer treatments for cavities than their peers.
Committed to driving improved oral care practices for a cavity free smile Nigeria, leading toothpaste brand, Pepsodent a stable from Unilever Nigeria Plc, in partnership with the Nigerian Dental Association (NDA) has revealed plans to help millions of Nigerian families adopt the best oral health practices. This is part of its planned activities for this year’s World Oral Health Day (WOHD) celebration, which is schedule to hold on Monday March 20.
The WOHD is an international day set aside to celebrate the benefits of a healthy mouth, to promote worldwide oral health awareness and to encourage everyone to look after their oral hygiene in a bid to help reduce the global burden of oral disease. The theme of the year’s celebration is ‘Live Mouth Smart’.
The Nigerian Dental Association has been passionately promoting oral health in Nigeria, by educating and helping people maintain the brush twice-daily beneficial habit. This she has done through outreaches, on-site demonstration of proper tooth brushing, educational fliers, health talk, dental checkup and treatment etc.
Various programmes such as commemoration of WOHD, Live Learn Laugh and recently Brush Twice Daily campaign, have been executed in both rural and urban areas in Nigeria. These have been executed in partnership with Unilever Nigeria Plc, makers of Pepsodent toothpaste towards improving the oral health status of Nigerians.
As one of the world’s leading toothpaste brands, Pepsodent is focusing on building long-term behaviour change of brushing twice daily. Speaking on the continuous partnership between Unilever and the National Dental Association, President of the Association, Dr. Bode Ijarogbe, said: “We are proud of our partnership with Unilever Nigeria Plc, who have made the success of the previous World Oral Health celebrations possible with their immense support towards oral health in Nigeria.”
“It is imperative to prevent oral diseases in Nigeria by ensuring people brush twice a day, every day. In addition to the fact that many people cannot afford dental care, statistics also shows that there are only about 4,125 registered dentists i.e. about 40,000 people to one dentist,” he added.
According to Ijarogbe, oral diseases, despite being the most common worldwide, is easily preventable through brushing twice a day with fluoride toothpaste. He stated that Unilever through its brand, Pepsodent, is set to help Nigerians eradicate oral diseases with lined-up dental activities including, school programmes across, health walk, community outreach, market activations and several other activities that will educate Nigerians on the many benefits and importance of brushing twice daily.
Commenting on the statistics that shows that 59 percent of Nigerians do not brush day and night, Ijarogbe said: “We have through our efforts in the past seen the transformative impact that brushing twice daily has on the oral health of Nigerians.”
“Our goal at Pepsodent is to continue driving improved oral care practices for a cavity free smile Nigeria. We are also aware that healthy dental habits start in childhood, which is why it’s vital that the Pepsodent Brush Day and Night campaign reaches more children than ever before. We have reached over 2.5 million children in about 3,500 schools since the inception of the programme. Our goal is to reach 10 million children by 2020,” he added.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2nf7G23
Adesua Etomi, others make 100 most inspiring women list
Adesua Etomi
* Facebook Empowers Young Female Entrepreneurs With Boost Your Business Initiative IN commemoration of this year’s International Women’s Day, as well as celebrate hardworking Nigerian women, YNaija.com and Leading Ladies Africa recently unveiled the 2017 edition of the 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria. The idea behind the initiative is to celebrate and publicise their achievements, with the clear intent of inspiring a new wave of Nigerian female change makers, leaders and entrepreneurs.
For the 3rd year in a row, the #100Women celebrates Nigerian women from different spheres and in different stages of work and life, all of who are constantly leading lives of excellence and breaking new ground in their unique ways.
With over four months in the making, the #100Women list has gone through a strict process of vetting, approval and review from external partners and a trusted advisory committee.
“It is impossible to create a list that highlights every single great Nigerian woman, but LLA have managed to come up with a presentation that at its core, celebrates all that we know to be great about the modern Nigerian woman,” says Lekan Olanrewaju, Editor of Y!/YNaija.com.
He noted that the collaboration with LLA is hinged on the fact that the organisation recognises and values the achievements women bring to the world.
For Francesca Uriri, Founder, Leading Ladies Africa, “Our key objective is to promote leadership, diversity and inclusion for African women – a call to have them participate in activities that ensure they lead better, fulfilling, and ultimately more productive lives.
“The 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria list, ties into that vision – of recognizing the incredible and inspiring work, Nigerian women from diverse backgrounds have put into governance, enterprise, advocacy and business,” she said.
As part of activities to further celebrate and recognise the honourees, they will subsequently be presented with their certificates and honoured at a gala event, slated for March 30, at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi Lagos.
Comprising mostly of young women from different professions, the lists has the likes of Abimbola Alale, Achenyo Idachaba, Chika Uwazie, Adenike Oyetunde, Adepeju Jaiyeoba, Adesua Etomi, Akwaeke Emezi, Amina J Mohammed and Arese Ugwu. Others include Asisat Oshoala, Ayodeji Megbope, Bidemi Zakariyau, Chinenye Jeanne Nnoli, Chinwe Ohajuruka, Chioma Ude, Ijeoma Ndukwe, Isabella Akinseye, Isio Wanogho, Liz Osho, Onos Ariyo and others.
Meanwhile, in celebration of International Women’s Day, Facebook will host the first of its ongoing series of Boost Your Business trainings for an exclusive group of female entrepreneurs. During the event, guests will take part in a three-hour training that covers everything from brand building and understanding key audiences, to content best practices. The event will conclude with a speed pitch competition airing Live on Facebook where three female entrepreneurs will present their business ideas to a panel of judges for a chance to win a prize.
Boost Your Business is a training initiative developed by Facebook and facilitated by She Leads Africa, is designed to train and upskill small business owners on how to leverage digital tools to grow their businesses.
Apart form the March 8 event online, ongoing trainings will be held in Lagos, Kaduna, Ibadan, Port Harcourt and Abuja.
According to Nunu Ntshingila, Head of Facebook Africa, “Helping women to start and grow prosperous companies is a powerful way we can transform our society and create equal opportunities for all. At Facebook, we are enthusiastic about supporting small women-owned businesses in their growth by providing them with a platform that democratises marketing and connects them to customers.”
In Nigeria, the number of new women-owned SMB Pages on Facebook has increased 140 percent between 2015 and 2016, and more than 13X since 2012.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mLcJK1
Igboetiti: Ugwuanyi does not need endorsement for second tenure
Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, with Justice Mabel Egumgbe (left) and Justice Ugonne Jacinta Nweze, after they were sworn-in as judges of Enugu State High Court at Government House, Enugu…yesterday
The people of Igboetiti local government council, Enugu state have said that Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi would not seek endorsement from anybody for his second term bid, saying his works will speak for him.
They therefore set aside today to celebrate the governor, stressing that all should emulate his leadership style in the face of the prevailing economic recession in the country.
Addressing newsmen in Enugu, Coordinator of the event, Prof Fred Nwodo and the Secretary, Prof Simeon Ortuanya, said that the people of the area would also use the occasion to form a socio-political group, Gburugburu Movement, to intensify their support for the governor.
Nwodo expressed delight that the governor has in the last two years, managed the lean resources accruing to the state very prudently just like he has equitably distributed amenities in the state.
Nwodo, who disclosed that Ugwuanyi was building new hospitals in the state, also said that the governor has concluded plans to site a mobile police barracks along the Nike-Opi Road leading to Nsukka, to beef up security on that axis.
Nwodo noted that the defection of the former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Eugene Odoh, who hails from Igbo-Etiti to the All Progressives Congress (APC) recently, would not affect the support their people have for Governor Ugwuanyi.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2nf9Te0
Thursday, 9 March 2017
We are quietly watching events after Osinbajo’s visit, say Niger Delta militants
Vice preisdent Yemi Osinbajo flanked by Chief Edwin Clark and Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa during as the vice president addresses leaders of the Niger Delta during his visit to the region recently. PHOTO: TWITTER/PRESIDENCY
A militant group, Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate (NDGJM), yesterday explained the reason for the recent truce in the region and the halt in bombing of pipelines.
The group, for several months, paralysed the activities of oil firms, especially the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) by destroying their pipelines network.
The group’s spokesman, Gen. Aldo Agbalaja, in a statement yesterday said the NDGJM decided to be calm all the while to observe how things unfold in the region and to watch the government.
Agbalaja said the group is not dead but repositioning for better results.NDGJM lauded recent steps taken by Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo to convince the Niger Delta of the Federal Government’s commitment to ensure peace in the region.
They, however, advised Osinbajo to fulfill the pledges made to the youths during his visit to the region.“But we saw how the acting president goofed in his interaction with Niger Delta stakeholders. We saw how he failed to see that the Niger Delta does not belong to just one set of people, how he continued in the error of those before him, gave all the attention to only Ijaw people, especially in Delta State.
“He started on a faulty note, which if not corrected will make the situation worse. Divide and rule will not work, if the people of the upland part of the region are not treated with same level of respect as those in the creeks, there will never be security for the oil assets you so much cherish,” Agbalaja stated.
While commending the government’s directive to oil companies to relocate their headquarters to the region, they said “it only makes sense for the farmer to dwell near his farm.”
They warned that the practice of imposing one ethnic group over the other would be resisted and urged the government to give every community what is due to it, without imposing any group over another.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lJrwFI
CWG seeks investment in youth entrepreneurs to boost SMEs
CWG Plc has urged government at all levels in the country to invest heavily into youth entrepreneurship, saying such investment would boost the Small and Medium Enterprises segment and ultimately help to grow the economy.
The company said apart from helping to grow the economy, several jobs would be created in tandem with the President Muhammadu Buhari led federal government’s desires to create jobs for Nigerians, especially the youths.
Speaking on the sideline of a youth empowerment programme in Lagos, James Agada, Chief Executive Officer of CWG Plc, stated that any country that aspires to be great economically, must collaborate with the youth segment, which forms over 50 percent of the population most of the times.
“Information available four years ago indicates that there are over 17million SMEs in the country. Today, they are more. So, we believe there is a need for an increased investment in youth entrepreneurship as part of efforts to improve the growth of Small, Medium scale Enterprises (SME) in Nigeria,” he emphasized.
He added that empowering the SMEs is the solution to unemployment in the country because they are the backbone of the Nigerian economy, where they are taking over 42.41 million persons off the unemployment space and making a contribution of about 46.54 per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product in nominal terms.
He said as part of its desires to support the federal government’s drive in the area of youth empowerment, CWG has consistently created cutting edge solutions targeted at SMEs in the country.
Agada disclosed that one of such cutting edge solutions it has deployed to empower the SMEs and make them efficient and effective is the SMERP, CWG’s Enterprise Resource Planning platform built to enable Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) manage their business operations in a manner that would ensure productivity and growth.
The Pan-African ICT company’s CEO disclosed that with SMERP solution, SMEs can easily setup an E-commerce website with different categories of products, adding that the solution is suitable for any business like retailing, hospital management, manufacturing and school management.
Speaking further, Agada stated that CWG’s SMERP Solution is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, which integrates areas such as planning, purchasing, inventory, sales, marketing, finance, distribution and human resources.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2nkWXCC
Monday, 6 March 2017
Barcelona believe in PSG ‘miracle’ mission
Paris Saint-Germain's Argentinian forward Angel Di Maria (C) shoots next to Barcelona's Portuguese midfielder Andre Gomes (R) during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg football match between Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona on February 14, 2017 at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris.<br />CHRISTOPHE SIMON / AFP
Three weeks on from suffering a 4-0 humiliation at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona still believe that a Champions League “miracle” is possible at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.
Since that fateful night in Paris, Barcelona have regained both leadership of La Liga and their confidence ahead of the last 16, second leg.
And despite the news that Luis Enrique will no longer be their coach next season, Barca showed no negative effects as Lionel Messi led a 5-0 destruction of Celta Vigo on Saturday in arguably the club’s best performance of the season.
“Hopefully we can produce a miracle,” said midfielder Ivan Rakitic.
No side has ever overturned a 4-0 deficit in the knock-out stages of the Champions League.
“Evidently, it is very difficult, we are not stupid,” accepted Enrique.
Yet, by announcing his decision to go at the end of the season, Enrique has calmed the waters that raged as Barca were torn apart by a faster, more determined and precise PSG, who enjoyed the glorious European night they had long waited for since Qatar Sports Investments starting pumping millions into the club six years ago.
Not everyone believes the tie is over, though.
“My advice to you, knowing Luis and the players a little, is not to talk too much, because they will be back and prove you wrong,” former Barca and now Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola had said about the first leg.
At the time very few, even in Barcelona, believed that. Now, 21 days on, they very much do.
Enrique spoke on Friday of the “relief” at ending speculation over his future.
And in following up a 6-1 thrashing of Sporting Gijon with the dismantling of Celta at the weekend, Barca had the air of a team with a weight removed.
“If the stars align we can turn that game around,” Enrique added as he announced his decision last week.
“With this team you have to always believe,” said Barca sporting director Robert Fernandez.
“We have a hugely difficult result against us against a magnificent team, but in football anything can happen.”
If there is one side in world football with the firepower to dream it is Barcelona.
On top of Messi, Neymar has come back into goalscoring form in the past week, whilst Luis Suarez already has 26 goals this season.
Indeed, the results from over a third of Enrique’s home games as Barca coach would be good enough to at least force the game to extra time.
That record includes all three of Barca’s Champions League games this season as they dismantled Celtic (7-0), Manchester City (4-0) and Borussia Moenchengladbach (4-0) by a combined score of 15-0.
Meanwhile, Suarez is seeking inspiration from one of the best displays of the Enrique era as last season Barca thrashed eternal rivals Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu with Messi only available for the last half hour on his return from injury.
“If we were capable of scoring four goals against Madrid at the Bernabeu, why can’t we score four against Paris at the Camp Nou,” the Uruguayan told Spanish radio station Onda Cero.
“If we score two then they can begin to get nervous that we can pull it off because we know we are capable of it.”
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mgjVNt
GoPro shares fall to record low after Goldman, Citi say Sell
Karma drone Source: GoPro
GoPro Inc. fell to a record low Monday after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. became the second firm in two days to recommend selling the stock, highlighting the camera maker’s struggles to compete in an increasingly crowded market and overcome missteps with new products.
“We think GoPro’s main challenge is that its core action market is largely saturated, as it has not attracted a significantly broader and more mainstream audience,” Simona Jankowski, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, wrote in a note to clients. “We expect GoPro to continue to struggle fundamentally.”
The shares fell as much as 10 percent to $7.95, the lowest intraday price since June 2014, when the company first sold shares to the public at $24.
On March 3, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. initiated coverage of the stock with a sell recommendation and a price target of $8. Citi analyst Stanley Kovler called the company the “best house in a deteriorating neighborhood.”
GoPro’s market-leading action camera products are not enough to overcome the overall decline in standalone imaging products like camcorders and cameras, and increased saturation in mature markets like the U.S., he wrote.
In early February, GoPro gave another disappointing earnings report and forecast, capping what has been a string of mishaps. The company was forced to recall its Karma drone in November, less than two months after its much-hyped debut and the new Hero5 camera — that Chief Executive Officer Nick Woodman had been counting on to revitalize demand — was hit with production delays, leading to lower sales.
In November GoPro said that it would eliminate about 15 percent of its workforce and shut down its entertainment division to reduce costs. GoPro said earlier this month that it would reduce adjusted operating expenses to less than $600 million this year. But Goldman’s Jankowski said the company will need to get that down to less than $500 million in order to break even on an operating basis.
In order to “get more positive on GoPro shares,” Jankowski said she’d need to see the company nail its product development and launches, especially the Hero6 for the holiday season — “enough to reinvigorate growth in the core business as well as add distance to competitors such as YI Technology.”
Also, she’d need to see a “more compelling drone introduction” and would look for GoPro to introduce an integrated 360 video capture device.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mdrins
The dollar is your human right
Dollars
A couple of weeks ago, the Central Bank of Nigeria provided an answer – a special rate of around N380 to $1 was created for those travelling abroad, paying foreign school fees or medical expenses. From now on, every Tuesday, the CBN will sell forex to banks for the purpose of meeting the demand that falls into the above categories. If your flight time is 5 hours or more, you are ‘entitled’ to $4,000 at a subsidised rate per quarter. That is, you are not entitled to this fundamental human right if you are going to Rwanda, but you can get it for travel to South Africa.
If this is the answer, what was the question? Did Nigeria get to this forex crisis because it stopped subsidising foreign currency expenses by the middle class? Of course, the move has been very popular with Nigeria’s middle class. But then, bringing back firing squads at the Bar Beach in Lagos will also be popular if you asked Nigerians to vote on the question in a referendum. Popularity may not be a good test of whether the policy is right or not.
To be fair, there are positives to CBN’s latest move. In recent times, the dollar has become a kind of asset that only ever goes up. Naturally, this attracts more and more people who are looking to protect themselves against the effects of inflation and devaluation. Every other type of asset rises and falls over time. Except the dollar in Nigeria. By intervening in the market the way it did and subsequently allowing the naira to strengthen, this one-way direction of travel was stopped, if only temporarily. This is the way any normal asset should behave – sometimes it goes up, other times it goes down. In other words, you should avoid playing short term games with it. From around N530 to $1, the rate has moved to N450 to $1.
The other useful thing CBN has done is to narrow the gap between the official (fake) exchange rate at the interbank market and the black market (real) rate. The size of the gap is a very accurate reflection of the failure of the official market. The correct exchange rate for a currency is the rate at which everyone who wants to exchange naira for dollars can get it to buy. By creating a new subsidised rate for the middle class, even the CBN has agreed that the attempted ‘float’ from last year was a sinking one. Those who were chased out of the official market have now been welcomed back into the light from the darkness of the black market.
We are now left with a further question – what has it taken to achieve this and is it something that is sustainable? A rough calculation suggests that the CBN will need to ‘inject’ around $500m into the market every week just to keep the exchange rate stable (latest figures released by CBN show that it sold less than $1bn in the whole of January). When I was in the university, chain smokers were referred to by a name that suggested they only needed a lighter for the first cigarette. After that, before each cigarette’s light went out, it would be used to light the next one. The strategy embarked on by CBN is something like that. As long as it is ‘injecting’ that amount of money into the market, it can buy stability. It’s a balancing act that cannot be stopped or else the lights will go out. If it stops, the rates will begin to climb back up with a vengeance and it would simply have wasted all the money it previously injected into the market.
This forex crisis and especially the halfhearted responses to it have taken a very big toll on Nigeria in ways that are difficult to quantify. Who can calculate the sheer amount of Nigerian brainpower that has been diverted into thinking about forex every day for the last 2 years? How much has this distraction cost the economy? We may never know. But the crisis rolls on with only a brief pause here and there. Yet, all this could have been avoided with a bit of honesty from the very beginning. When a country loses half of its income from a commodity it relies on for almost all its foreign exchange, there can be no painless way to adjust to a new reality. The only debate is about the degrees of pain and the kind of payoff available at the end of the painful period.
Of course, floating the currency will bring the pain of inflation with it. But monetary policy usually takes 12 to 18 months to pass through the economy. This is the time it takes for the economy to adjust to new prices and ways of doing things. Unless things change – like oil going back up to $100 per barrel – there is no way to live the champagne life of 2014 and on a new reality of beer salary. The way to make this adjustment happen is to allow prices change. It may sound simplistic but not everything is meant to be so complicated in life.
Enjoy your PTA ‘entitlement’ if you can get it. It is your fundamental human right as a Nigerian to enjoy subsidised dollars to spend abroad. You didn’t make the rules, CBN did. But there are now very few wrong options left in this forex drama. Sooner or later, we will be forced to do the right thing when it is the only option left on the table.
Safe journey when you travel.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mgf7rG
African American Oscars triumph masking real diversity woes
PHOTO:AFP/getty image
The triumph of black artists at the Oscars was seen as a signal that predominantly white Hollywood was making a serious effort to get a grip on its diversity problem.
Yet scratch the surface and it is apparent that the battle has barely begun in an industry where Asians, Latinos and other minorities, not to mention women, remain sorely underrepresented on set — and in studio boardrooms.
After the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag caught on in 2016 — the second straight year when no ethnic minority actors were nominated — Barry Jenkins’s coming-of-age best picture “Moonlight” struck a chord last Sunday as a moving look at contemporary African-American life.
There were six nods for black actors overall, as well as three documentary nominees telling African-American stories — including Ezra Edelman’s winning “O.J.: Made in America” — and a screenplay win for Jenkins and his writing partner Tarell McCraney.
But critics have pointed out that race is not simply a black-and-white issue.
Under growing pressure, the Academy has embarked on reforms in recent years to diversify the mix of its members, who may have become “more aware” of bias, according to Darnell Hunt, the professor in charge of UCLA’s annual Hollywood Diversity Report.
“But that’s not necessarily a sign that the industry has changed, or that there’s more diversity in the films being made. Studios are still (managed) by white men,” he told AFP.
– Exclusion –
The latest edition of the study, published last month, notes that “despite the Academy Award nominations, the exclusion of people of color and women from Hollywood remains a concern.”
Minorities represent 40 percent of the US population but only 13.6 percent of actors and 10 percent of filmmakers.
There was just one non-white, non-black acting nomination last Sunday — for British-Indian Dev Patel — while Syrian documentary shorts “The White Helmets” and “Watani: My Homeland” and Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s “The Salesman” were left to represent the entirety of Middle Eastern filmmaking.
It’s not just an Oscars issue: Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans are the most woefully under-represented across the industry, while Middle Eastern actors find themselves typecast as terrorists.
Discrimination against women is arguably a larger issue, with only 29 percent of lead roles being female and, worse still, just 7.7 percent of productions directed by women according to the UCLA report, which analyzed movies and TV released in 2015.
At the root of the problem, say campaigners, is the overwhelming homogeneity in boardrooms and also in Hollywood’s many casting agencies, which place the talent.
If you have a bunch of white man deciding what gets made, contends Hunt, they will inevitably green-light projects in their wheelhouse — action, sci-fi and superhero movies populated and made by people who look like them.
The doom and gloom is in part mitigated, however, by baby steps towards a more inclusive future.
– Last resort –
Ryan Coogler, the 30-year-old rising African American star who directed “Creed,” is currently shooting “Black Panther,” a Marvel tentpole centered on a black superhero.
Meanwhile Ava DuVernay, acclaimed for the feature “Selma” and Oscar nominated for the documentary “13th,” has become the first African-American to make a film with a budget of more than $100 million with the upcoming fantasy adventure “A Wrinkle in Time.”
Skeptics point out that white, male studio bosses are hardly clamoring to fall on their swords in the name of diversity.
But Sundance Institute director Keri Putnam says the solution lies not in executives vacating their seats, but in “inviting more people around the table.”
Josh Welsh, who heads Film Independent, the organizer of the annual Spirit Awards honoring indie filmmaking, believes that regulation may be the only long-term answer.
Illinois and several other US states, for example, design their tax rebates system to award diversity, he points out.
Online entertainment magazine Deadline recently reported that the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was in settlement talks with the major studios to resolve charges that they systemically discriminated against female directors.
The EEOC doesn’t comment on its investigations, and charges are made public only in the “last resort” instances where lawsuits are launched.
Putnam notes meanwhile that executives are beginning to see inclusivity as a “business imperative” since films with diverse casts enjoy the highest global box office receipts and the highest return on investment.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mdrTWa
No let up from Real, Zidane warns Napoli
Real Madrid's French coach Zinedine Zidane leaves after giving a press conference at Valdebebas Sport City in Madrid on January 3, 2017, on the eve of the Spanish Copa del Rey (King's Cup) match Real Madrid CF vs Sevilla FC. / AFP PHOTO / GERARD JULIEN
Zinedine Zidane has warned Napoli there will be no let up for 90 minutes when Real Madrid look to seal their seventh successive qualification for the Champions League quarter-finals.
After a 3-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu last month, Napoli host the 11-time European champions Tuesday dreaming of causing a major upset and securing their first berth in the last eight of Europe’s premier club competition.
Zidane has fond memories of the San Paolo stadium having played against Napoli during a five-year spell with Juventus.
But although he expects a “difficult” game, the former World Cup winner said Real expect one result only.
“It will be a difficult game, the same as it always is in the Champions League,” Zidane told a packed conference in Naples on Monday.
“It’s never easy here. I’ve played here in the past. The fans always get behind the team, which is really great, but it also spurs us on as well.
“We’re more than ready. We’ve come here to win, not to try and manage the game. We’ll suffer, but we’re motivated.”
Credited with playing the most attractive football in Italy, Napoli made a bright start to the first leg thanks to Lorenzo Insigne’s audacious long-range strike in the opening minutes.
But goals by Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Brazilian midfielder Casemiro offered a stark reminder of Real’s European pedigree.
Zidane’s men are firmly in control and if Napoli are to go through on away goals, the Serie A side will have to do what no team has managed since Wolfsburg beat Real in a quarter-final first leg nearly a year and 46 games ago — keep a clean sheet against the reigning Champions League winners.
A fast start with an early goal — and an all-round tight defensive display — would ideally be required from the hosts.
But Zidane appears to have covered all the bases.
“Obviously they will play with a lot of intensity at the start of the game. But Napoli are a team that knows how to play in different ways,” added the Frenchman.
“They’re strong on the counter-attack and they use the flanks well. Tomorrow it’s crucial we start well. But we also have to have intensity for 90 minutes.
“I want us to leave everything out on the pitch and play good football, but also use our heads.”
Zidane rested most of his key players for a 4-1 league win at Eibar at the weekend when, not for the first time, his ‘Galacticos’ looked more balanced and dominant without many of their big stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo (injury) and Gareth Bale (suspension).
Karim Benzema and James Rodriguez were outstanding in the win, giving Zidane a potential selection headache after he named Ronaldo and Bale in his matchday squad on Monday.
Maurizio Sarri’s men are hoping a stadium packed to the rafters performs as their 12th man.
Azzurri captain Marek Hamsik said earlier: “There’s still everything to play for. I can’t wait to get on the pitch and soak up the atmosphere. It will be a great night, for us and for Naples.
“We have to believe we can hurt them. They’re a team filled with star names, but we have to take the game to them.”
But for the world’s most decorated football team, Napoli’s legendary home support is likely to make little difference.
“Obviously Napoli are going to be fired up, we’re in Italy and they’re playing at home,” added Zidane.
“But it’s a game of football. It’s 11 players versus 11, and our motivation is intact.”
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mdwxDp
Thursday, 23 February 2017
NBA urges government to roll out anti-graft war in MDAs (Read full details)
Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud
As part of efforts at mitigating high level of corruption in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Abubakar Mahmoud has advocated the establishment of a secret agency to monitor the activities of officials with the view to prosecuting them.
Mahmoud, who was a guest speaker at a strategic dialogue on improving anticorruption institutions in Nigeria organized in Lagos by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in collaboration with the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) said the agency will have the responsibility of secretly monitoring officials for corrupt practices and reporting either to the presidency or the Attorney General for prosecution.
Lamenting the endemic nature of corruption in the nation, Mahmoud, who was represented by Adesina Adegbite, said the recent videoing of the military brutality against a physical challenged man in Anambra State was a pointer that when people know that somebody will be watching them, they will change their ways.
Professor of International Law and Jurisprudence in University of Lagos, Akin Oyebode lamented that corruption has remained a deleterious disease in Nigeria despite several efforts to curb it.
While describing President Muhammadu Buhari as a global brand for anti-corruption with a perfect blend with the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, he said the fight against corruption has been more on the symptoms rather than the system.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2mdCcwi
Why police are cautious with kidnappers, by IGP (Read full details)
Ibrahim Idris
• Seeks media support
• Deploys special force to rescue kidnapped Germans
• Parades five for allegedly stealing crude
• ‘No policeman was killed in Owerri robbery incident’
• Commission approves promotion of 3,213 officers
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, has explained why the police were cautious in arresting kidnappers after they have abducted their victims.
The police boss, at an interactive session with senior journalists in Abuja yesterday, said that the police first consider the safety of victims of kidnappings in adopting appropriate strategy to arrest kidnappers.
According to him: “If the police rush to free the victims of kidnappings, this could put them in danger and sometimes, the kidnappers could kill their victims which is not the objective of effective policing.”
He added that families of kidnap victims often prevail on the police to stay off pursuit of kidnappers in fear that their involvement could seriously endanger the safety of the captives.
Meanwhile, IGP has ordered the deployment of a special force to the southern part of Kaduna State to rescue the two German archeologists, Prof. Peter Breunig and Mr. Johannes Behringer, who were kidnapped at an excavation site.
The Force spokesman, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Jimoh Moshood, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja at a press conference.
He said the IG has also ordered a Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) (Operations) to lead the team of policemen on a hunt to rescue the kidnapped expatriates.
Also, the police yesterday paraded five suspects arrested in Lagos allegedly in possession of illegally-refined AGO, otherwise known as diesel.
Jimoh said the suspects were arrested after a sustained surveillance and monitoring of the vessel and crew members sailing from the creeks of Port Harcourt in Rivers State through the waterways to Lagos.
In another development, the Imo State Commissioner of Police (CP), Taiwo Lakanu, has said that no policeman or innocent civilian was killed during the shoot-out that followed the attempted robbery at Zenith Bank along Wethedral Road, Owerri on Wednesday.
Lakanu, who spoke with journalists in Owerri yesterday, said it was untrue as reported in some newspapers that three policemen and two civilians were killed by the armed robbers during the operation.
Meanwhile, the Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved the promotion of 3,213 senior police officers to the next rank, including 11 former Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) to Commissioner of Police (CP), one Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) to DCP and 3,201 Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs) to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).
A statement issued yesterday in Abuja by the commission’s spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, said the Permanent Secretary who is also the Secretary of the Commission, Musa Istifanus, had already conveyed the decision of the PSC to the IG for implementation.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2mr29EL
Trump reverses Obama ban on private prisons…Read full details
President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday reinstated the use of private prisons for federal inmates, saying commercial prison operators are needed for the correctional system’s “future needs.”
Trump’s new attorney general, Jeff Sessions, officially rescinded the Barack Obama administration’s move last August to phase out the management of prisons by private companies, which Obama’s justice department had said proved to be inadequate, more dangerous and not cheaper than government-run prisons.
Sessions said in an order that the move last year had reversed a longstanding policy at the Federal Bureau of Prisons to have private companies involved, “and impaired the bureau’s ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system.”
The Obama move had only affected a small portion of the US prison system: 13 privately run prisons housing just over 22,000 people, or about 11 percent of the federal prison population. Most are foreign nationals, mainly Mexicans incarcerated for immigration violations.
The Trump government has promised a crackdown on crime and illegal immigration, suggesting the prisons bureau could require greater holding capacity in a short time.
The 13 prisons are run by three companies: CoreCivic (known until recently as Corrections Corporation of America), GEO Group and Management and Training Corporation.
The announcement gave a strong after-hours boost to the stock of the two listed firms. Core Civic jumped 3.2 percent, while GEO Group added 1.0 percent.
The move was expected and both companies’ stocks had already risen sharply after Trump’s election victory on November 8.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2lfGkaR