Arsenal ends 9-year title drought with FA Cup win

LONDON (AP) -- Aaron Ramsey ended Arsenal's nine-year trophy drought, completing his team's comeback in extra time in the FA Cup final to clinch a 3-2 victory over Hull.

Saturday was shaping up as an embarrassing day for Arsenal at Wembley Stadium, when Hull scored twice in the first eight minutes. Hull has never won a major trophy in its 110-year history.

But after goals from James Chester and Curtis Davies, Santi Cazorla began Arsenal's comeback in the 17th minute by scoring directly from a free kick.

Laurent Koscielny tied the score in the 71st minute to force the game into extra time, where Ramsey completed a slick move to score the goal that will ease the pressure on manager Arsene Wenger.

"This one's for the manager, for the fans, who've always believed in us as well even when things weren't going as well," Ramsey said.

After collecting the team's first trophy since the 2005 FA Cup, Wenger was doused in champagne and thrown in the air by his players.

"I think it was a turning point in the lifetime of this team," Wenger said. "And to know they can win in that way was very important today."

Wenger's future was in doubt after Arsenal's repeated failures in the Premier League since winning it in 2004. But Saturday's victory will increase expectations that the Frenchman will commit to the club he has managed since 1996. He has already indicated he will sign a contract for next season.

"We showed great strength and character today to come back to win it," the 23-year-old Ramsey said. "To score the winner in extra time is something I've dreamed of for many, many years. It's definitely up there with the most important goals I've ever scored."

Three years after Arsenal conceded a late goal here to Birmingham in the League Cup final, this looked like another miserable day.

Arsenal's defense was nonexistent, breached far too easily by a team that just barely avoided relegation in its first season back in the Premier League.

Tom Huddlestone's volley of a free kick by Stephen Quinn was heading off-target until Chester flicked the ball with his heel into the bottom corner of the net.

Hull manager Steve Bruce, who won this competition three times in the 1990s as a Manchester United player, could barely believe it. Bruce, whose son Alex was on the Hull defense, celebrated enthusiastically on the sideline.

Before Arsenal's players could recover, Lukasz Fabianski, the second-string goalkeeper who has been used in the cup, was picking the ball out of his net again.

After Arsenal failed to fully clear a free kick, Bruce's standing header hit the post, and Davies fired in the loose ball from a tight angle for his third goal in four FA Cup appearances.

But Cazorla gave Arsenal a much-needed spark as the Spaniard curled in a free kick into the top of the net.

As Hull tired after halftime, Arsenal seized control.

"We wanted to make history tonight and win the game," Wenger said, "and we made history in both ways - how not to start a cup final and how to come back."

Jason Njoku of iROKO & Mike Adenuga of Glo named Top Tech Nigerian CEOs

They helped change the way Nigerians see technology in today’s economy.

Ventures Africa recently released a list profiling the Top 10 Tech CEOs in Nigeria.

Over the years, Jason Njoku of iROKO Partners has made a name for himself in the entertainment scene, promoting Nigerian movies, especially for Nigerians abroad. His company recently acquired an $8 million investment from hedge fund, Tiger Global.

When it’s green, it is probably Globacom. Mike Adenuga‘s telecommunications establishment is the second largest operator in the country, after MTN.

Also on the list are;

• Sim Shagaya (Konga)
• Abasiama Idaresit (Wild Fusion)
• Tayo Oviosu (Paga)
• Valentine Obi (etranzact)
• Florence Seriki (Omatek)
• Leonard “Leo” Stanley Nnamdi Ekeh (Zinox Technologies)
• Funke Opeke (Mainstreet Technologies)
• Mitchell Elegbe (Interswitch) 

10 things that kills relationship

If you’ve ever ran on a default mode lifestyle before you decided to build a relationship, the moment you do, knowing you aren’t alone, knowing it takes two to make it work, an immediate shift is expedient. Satisfying the (wo)man you really love should be considered along your decisions. But before a relationship would hit an all time low, these are highlights that could lead it there.
1. Issues not discussed – There could be some areas you desire to have your partner change or get better at. If you choose to keep mute about it and you such keeps receiving your attention and you just can’t ignore, it kills relationships slowly.
2. Lies – Well, this cannot be overstretched. The more you lie to your partner, the lesser he/she trust you, and when trust is gone in a relationship, that’s trouble!
3. Not sharing – No one forms a relationship by themselves. It takes two to get at it. A balanced relationship demands the effort of the-two involved. It’s about what you-two bring to the center. The pressure would be one-sided if one person chooses to be greedy. Sharing is one of many things that powers a relationship and makes it balance.
4. Romance Wanted – Absence of romance in a relationship makes it boring, Romance is sensual and not always sexual. Identify those things that could create an intimate moment, things that sponsors good connection between you-two and starting doing them. The importance is simply to keep the attraction alive.
5. Blaming Your Partner – Yes! Keep blaming your partner for everything that’s wrong in your relationship and watch it die slowly. When you see more of his/her faults, there will always be something to complain about and the more the complains the more the relationship would lose its value.
6. Lack of Communication – Not in the area of phone calling or text messages though also important but specifically in the awareness of things to do or how to do them. Both parties must be kept abreast of what’s coming. Make your moves, schedules, work or some family related details clear to your partner. Always keeping them in the dark brings about uncertainties that could cause regular misunderstanding in a relationship.
7. Cohabitation – It’s one of the easiest ways to make your partner get fed up with the relationship. When you become too regular, so many things could lose its value and get lost accordingly.
8. Pretense – You seem to be too cool at everything because you want to impress him/her, that’s trouble! Whatever happens to being you should be reversed. Your partner could take it as being nice or tolerant. In a real relationship, no one is a cell-mate, you just be you!
9. Poor Timing – Whatsoever is sharing your quality time with your partner needs to be transferred on another time slot. Having the space for regular conversation strengthens your relationship and if it’s an LDR, you either could talk regularly on phone or pick a day or two in every week for this. Good time spent together reveals a lot, strengthens the bond, secures the relationship and it helps in no little measure.
10.Too Many Expectations – You want her to know what you want without saying it? You expect him to remember almost everything even when he has got several matters demanding his attention? Yes, we are in love and you sure mean a lot to us but we are human as well. Expect more and see more faults, expect less and you will be able to appreciate your partner more.
If there are issues not discussed in a relationship, it could make both partners keep hurtful secrets and in-turn produce beautiful lies. Blaming your partner while you appear to be without fault doesn’t make you in-charge but out rightly discharging the strength of the union. Cohabiting, though allowed in many countries is one major reason relationships will always lose its value quickly and another reason men and women would be used and abandoned. Somethings do NOT go together with a relationship and do remember that the best of relationships comes with several sacrifices made.

Man dies digging grave to steal skull in Osun state

An unidentified young man in Ilobu community, in the Irepodun LGA of Osun State, was found head deep in a grave in the early hours of Wednesday May 14th, after allegedly attempting to cut off the head of a corpse, buried in Tonto compound in the area, Saturday Tribune reports

The suspect’s accomplices fled in terror after seeing half his body get stuck mysteriously in the grave. His death has generated concern among the terrified residents of the Ilobu community.

It was gathered that the victim and his partners in crime allegedly came to Tonto compound in the early hours of Wednesday with a plot to exhume the corpse of an aged woman and sever her decomposed head, allegedly for ritual purposes. Continue...

A credible source in the community, who did not want to be named, told Saturday Tribune that “this particular corpse was buried five years ago and the suspected ritualist attended the burial in Ilobu.”

He explained: “There are indications that he did not dig the grave alone. What we discovered is that he may have been attempting to cut off the head of the corpse when something suddenly hooked him as he managed to force half of his body into the grave to cut off the head.

“He got hooked and died on the spot, a development which possibly compelled other ritualists to run away from the scene so that they may not be affected by the mysterious thing that killed (their colleague).”

While commenting on how the residents of Ilobu got to know about the incident, since it happened in the wee hours, the source said a woman who was hawking ogi (a local corn meal) early in the morning of Wednesday spotted the torso of the suspect sticking out of the grave and raised the alarm.

“His corpse was discovered around 6.30am and his head was covered in mud. The residents here alerted the police division in Ilobu and they later came to evacuate the body and put it in their van before taking him away,” he said.

Saturday Tribune was informed that the remains of the suspected ritualist were subsequently taken to and deposited at the mortuary of the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital (LAUTECH), Osogbo, the state capital.

When contacted, the Commissioner of Police in Osun State, Mr Ibrahim Maishanu, said he was aware of the incident, and that the police would conduct investigation to determine what led to the suspect’s death.

He said the police could not confirm that the suspect was a ritualist because of the circumstances surrounding the discovery of his corpse at a grave in Ilobu; that they would have to investigate the matter before giving any concrete information on the incident.

Source: Nigerian Tribune

Chris Okotie writes on Boko Haram, Chibok girls and Int'l assistance

Former Presidential aspirant and Head Pastor of the Household of God Church Pastor Chris Okotie today May 14th posted an article he wrote on the missing Chibok Girls, state of the nation and the international help Nigeria is receiving in the fight against Boko Haram, on his Facebook page.

In the interesting piece, Rev Okotie said Nigeria should not accept help from Israel to avoid Islamizing the terror war because of Israel's long drawn conflict with the Arab nations with whom our predominantly northern brothers share a common faith. See the article below

"In modern times, apart from Adolf Hitler’s Holocaust which killed an estimated six million Jews; the more recent ethnic cleansing in the Balkans and the Rwandan versions, no other massacre of the innocent surpasses the Boko Haram killings in brutality. These guys have kidnapped a part of this nation. We need a new strategy to rescue it. Thank God, First World leaders with experience and proven competence in counter-insurgency have responded to President Goodluck Jonathan’s call for assistance.

What makes Boko Haram’s case puzzling is that the group targets its own people, and especially weak demographic groups like women and children that are normally spared, along with civilian populations, in conventional warfare. Although, terrorists hardly respect this convention, even groups like Al-Qaeda do not attack their own people, expect where they establish a case of betrayal by fifth columnists within their ranks.

The unbelievable cruelty of the Boko Haram insurgents as evidenced by the recent abduction of more than 200 girls in a school hostel in Chibok, Bornu State ordinarily would have shocked the sponsors of the Islamists, if they have human hearts in their chests. Nothing suggests that they do, otherwise, they’d have called the fighters they unleashed on this nation to order.

At the time of writing the United States, Britain, France and China had pledged support for Nigeria’s efforts to help track Boko Harm and rescue these defenseless girls. This has given hope to Nigerians that, at last, a greater, more realistic action is in the offing.
It may be too late for the falcons to hear the falconer. If you ride the back of the tiger to power, it would devour you if it has nothing more to eat. That is the case of Boko Haram. Those who use the hoodlums to rig themselves to power abandoned them when they finally left power.

Then, the thugs, abandoned to their own devices were hijacked by politicians of diverse tendencies, and pseudo-Islamic militants, who use the renal youths to pursue dubious objectives. As disparate criminal elements infiltrated the group, it became amorphous, leaderless and difficult to control.
The killing of the original leader of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf allegedly in police custody provoked the initial reprisal attacks against the police. Gradually, other targets were being hit. As the sect made headlines it attracted jihadist partners from neighbouring countries like Chad, Niger, Sudan and Mali. Arms from the failing state of Libya after the death of Col. Maummar Ghadaffi fell into the hands of these mercenaries, who have strengthened Boko Haram, to the extent that members of the terror group are now strong enough to frustrate our army.

That is why arms and ammunitions captured by Nigerian security forces from Boko Haram fighters appear to be more sophisticated than those our soldiers use against them. We must understand the forces we are dealing with before we could defeat them.

It is doubtful if the terrorists have a well structured command and control system like Al-Shabab of Somalia or Al-Qaeda – in the – Islamic Maghreb, which almost over-ran the Malian government, before they were stopped by an African intervention force led by French troops.
If we must destroy Boko Haram, we need foreign help in the shape of highly sophisticated intelligence which the aforementioned Western powers who have experience in combating global terrorism have started offering. Some of their personnel are already here; but the President must act with greater decisiveness on this terror war. We need help from anywhere we can get it except Israel. Israel is out of it to avoid Islamisizing the terror war because of the former’s long drawn conflict with the Arab nations, with whom our predominantly northern brothers share a common faith.

Therefore, we must carefully select our foreign partners in the war against Boko Haram to avoid introducing international rivalries into it. President Goodluck Jonathan should summon the political will. With foreign help we could fish out the sponsors of the terrorists, and pre-empt the attacks before they are launched. The kidnapping of those young girls at Chibok has set a world record; it is a monumental disgrace, it strikes at the soul of our nation.

As it were, Nigeria has been kidnapped. At no time in our checkered history did we live like this, in perpetual fear of being attacked by criminal elements who are now on the prowl across the nation. For the first time, armed groups are laying siege on our military installations; invading army barracks and police formations, leaving heavy casualties in their trail. They appear capable of engaging our last line of defense as hit and run urban gorillas.

Now, after the failure of every trick in our books, we obviously have no answer to Boko Haram. We thought the terrorists have been dislodged permanently from Abuja and restricted to just the three North Eastern States of Bornu, Yobe and Adamawa, until the two recent Nyanya bombings. Chibok, which capped this brazen assault is a terrifying reality. How a group could abduct more than 200 girls from their school in an operation that required huge logistics, without being detected in an area where a State of Emergency is in force, is amazing. Nobody knows where they’d strike next, except the terrorists themselves.

This recurrent circle of condemnation after a strike and visits by the President or top government functionaries to bombed sites has continued for too long. While this may be a painful imperative for our leaders, what is lacking is a strategy to seriously decapitate the terrorists to such a point that their strike capability is completely destroyed. Effective intelligence could stop the terrorists in their tracks, while a swift, well organized counter-insurgency operation could annihilate them completely.
So far, we have not succeeded in containing the terrorists because, either our security forces are ill-equipped, incapable for some reasons, or are over-stretched to police the vast area they are supposed to cover. The Chibok tragedy and the frequent attacks on soft targets like motor parks, worship centres, markets and academic institutions ought to be prevented by the military authorities, because we all know that is the stock-in-trade of Boko Haram. Nobody should claim ignorance of the history of these attacks on such targets.

Boko Haram is a special problem in our country, and we require a special arrangement to move ahead of their logistics to nip them in the bud. Aside international assistance as earlier mentioned, localized knowledge of the terrains is an important factor. We have enough Para-military forces, which could be deployed to compliment efforts by our armed services, to provide adequate security coverage for our nation. There’s nothing wrong if we incorporate our ethnic militias and vigilante groups in this security arrangement because the nation is at war. And anyone, except the terrorists, could be a victim. When a nation is kidnapped, no effort should be spared to rescue it. So that’s why I join the rest of the world in saying: Bring Back Our Girls Now!

See photos of abducted Chibok girls

In a video, Boko Haram leader said he's ready to do a deal to free some or all the girls. He said;

The girls, numbering about 130, said to be held at Sambisa forest, a border between Cameroon and Nigeria, are seen praying in Arabic in the video.

"The girls you occupy yourselves with, we have liberated them...they are now Muslims. We will never release them unless our brethren are released. It's been 4/5 years you held our brethren and torturing them..and now you talk about these girls. Those who accept the faith, we'll treat them well. We will not release the girls until you free our brothers"

Abubakar Shekau mentioned that the girls have been converted to Islam. The girls are believed to be held in six different locations.

Nyanya bus park bombers paraded

The State Security Service at a press conference this afternoon May 12th at the DSS headquarters in Abuja, paraded five people they say carried out the first Nyanya bombing on April 14th that killed over 70 people.

SSS officials say the five-man terrorist gang confessed to carrying out the act and would soon be charged to court.

Suspected Boko Haram members: Ahmad Rufai Abubakar (left) Muhammadu Sani, Ishaq Adamu (centre), Yusuf Yau Saidu and Anas Isah (right) that masterminded the April 14th bomb attack at Nyanya park.