Messi happy with Barcelona focus

The 25-year-old was delighted the Blaugrana were not distracted by their impending Copa del Rey semi-final on Wednesday, while Jordi Roura heaped praise on the Argentine

Jan 27, 2013 11:48:00 PM

By Alec Fenn

Lionel Messi praised Barcelona's focus after he scored four goals in a 5-1 demolition ofOsasuna and became the youngest-ever player to rack up 200 Liga strikes

Much of the pre-match talk circulated around Wednesday night's Copa del Rey clash with Real Madrid, but despite that distraction on the horizon, the Blaugrana maintained their concentration with a ruthless display aided by the first-half dismissal of Arribas.

"The important thing was to get this game going," he told reporters after the game.

"There was so much talk about the clasico before the game, but first we had to play Osasuna and focus on this game."

Messi's record-breaking haul came after Cristiano Ronaldo brought up his 300th club goal with a hat-trick in Real Madrid's 4-0 win over Getafe.

Barca assistant Jordi Roura was asked whether he thought the Portuguese's efforts had motivated Messi's latest goalscoring spree, but instead preferred to focus on the Argentine's continued brilliance.

"I do not know if Messi was more motivated by Ronaldo's performance this morning, but I don't think he needs anybody else to motivate him," he added.

"I have run out of adjectives for him, when you see him do amazing things every day you get used to it, but when you step back and realise what he actually does then you see that he has no limit at all."

Clean Hands Save Lives, Save Cost

Clean Hands Save Lives, Save Cost

Method of hand washing



The Global Hand-washing enlightenment campaign aimed at increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of hand-washing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases catches my attention today.  Towards the campaign aim, around the world, children, teachers, parents, celebrities, and health officials are utilized to mobilize and motivate millions to wash their hands with soap always in order to reduce life-threatening diseases, such as diarrhea and acute respiratory infections.

It is known that children suffer disproportionately from diarrhea diseases, with more than 3.5 million children under five dying every year from diarrhea and pneumonia-related diseases. On the other hand, it is estimated that the simple act of washing hands with soap can reduce the incidence of diarrhea rates among children under five by almost 50 per cent, and respiratory infections by nearly 25 percent.
Hence, the slogan “Clean hands save lives” drives the campaign message home, the message is expected to be clearly carried home to children and schools in particular. This is because children acting as agents of change take the good practices of hygiene learned at school back into their homes and communities. The active participation and involvement of children, along with culturally sensitive community-based interventions aim at ensuring sustained behavioral change.

Handwashing with soap - particularly at critical moments, including after using the toilet and before handling food – is a key cost effective and life-saving intervention. Research in several developing countries illustrates that lack of soap is usually not the barrier; rather, the problem is that soap is not routinely used for handwashing. As an example, for most people, it is a known fact that many hardly washed their hands with soap after cleaning a child after defecation or when commencing feed from hand to mouth

Children as campaign driver
It has been extrapolated from statistical reports that of the approximately 120 million children born in the developing world each year, half will live in households without access to improved sanitation, at grave risk to their survival and development. Poor hygiene and lack of access to sanitation and portable water together contribute to about 88% of deaths from diarrhea diseases, accounting for 1.5 million diarrhea-related under-five deaths each year.

The recurrent Nigerian story on cholera-related deaths further tells the story the hard way. Children suffer disproportionately from diarrhea  respiratory diseases and deaths. But researches have shown repeatedly that, children – the segment of society so often the most energetic, enthusiastic, and open to new ideas – can also be powerful agents of behavioral change. Here lies the sense in this campaign to effect the global attitudinal change with children as agent-catalysts.

Health personnel are ‘culpable’
Surprisingly, even medical and other health personnel who should know better are noted ‘culprits of wrong attitude to hand-washing  A study of doctors’ hand-washing practices in one of the Lagos-based Teaching Hospitals, as revealed in a research presentation at the July 2010 Conference of the Society for Quality Healthcare in Nigeria (SQHN), showed that many doctors failed to wash their hands with soap between patient visits at an alarming frequency. If this is noted to be the practice in a teaching hospital where the best in vogue is the expected norm, then one can think of the worst practice in hospitals of lower levels.

Reasons adduced for this unpalatable behavior by medical personnel, who ordinarily fully understand the health benefits of hand-washing with soap, are lack of time, no rough paper towels for drying, inconveniently located sinks, and hands chapped by frequent washing with drying soaps. Moreover, many hospitals still provide bar soap for hand- washing  which many health practitioners are aware of its potential to culture microbes. Here, it should be noted that liquid soaps are far preferable to bar soaps for hand washing, especially in situations which involve multiple-users.

Changing people’s hand-washing habit
A good approach to appropriate hand washing behavior acquisition is to study and know what really works, and what doesn't  in changing private, personal behaviors and habits. It need be noted that what doesn't work is top-down, technology-led solutions or campaigns that hinge mainly on health education messages.

What is more effective is using approaches that build on the lessons of social marketing. This new approach emphasizes the role of careful formative research, which relates to a thorough study of the interests, attributes, needs and motivations of different people within a community. It is also based on the recognition that one size does not fit all and evidence showing that promoting a single message is more effective than promoting multiple messages. A good example here is the ‘Dettol’ repeated campaign slogan of “If you don’t care, who will?” which is one of such messages in vogue.  

In the same vein, approaches that create incentives for positive provider attitudes and behaviors get better results than those that rely on targets and punitive management practices. For an example, successful sanitation programs generate community demand for toilets and latrines by appealing to people’s desires for status, acceptance, community solidarity, privacy, convenience, safety and comfort since appeals to health tend to be significantly less effective in motivating behavioral change. The non-health motivations can be compared to the reasons people try to lose weight; maintaining a healthy weight is very important to one’s health – but the reason people go on diets is generally not to be healthier but rather to look better.

The prime logic of today’s discussion appropriate and routine hand-washing everyone can contribute to promoting hand-washing with soap! Join the crusade today and remain in it always by promoting routine hand-washing with soaps at home, schools, offices and in the larger community.

Obama Pledges Support for Democracy in Africa

Obama Pledges Support for Democracy in Africa

22 Jan. 2013

President Barack Obama and family members

By Nduka Nwosu and Tokunbo Adedoja

President Barack Obama has said that United States would support democracy in Africa and elsewhere because it is in its interests to do so.

In his inaugural address delivered Monday shortly after his public oath-taking ceremony in Washington DC, Obama said: “We will support democracy from Asia to Africa; from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom.”

He also said that America would remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe and renew those institutions that extend its capacity to manage crisis abroad, adding, “For no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation.”

The colourful ceremony watched by millions of people around the world and witnessed by hundreds of thousands of people at the inauguration ground, including two of Obama's predecessors, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, along with their spouses, was themed: “Faith in America's Future”.

The first family, Vice-President Joe Biden and his wife had earlier attended a church service at St. John’s Episcopal Church before returning to the White House for a brief rest and then headed to Capitol Hill at about 10.35 am for the inauguration ceremony.

Along the routes from the White House to the inaugural ground at Capitol Hill, thousands of people lined up behind law enforcement tapes waving at the presidential convoy as it made its way to the inauguration ground.

Reassuring his nation of the commitment of his administration to their security, Obama said: “We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully – not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear.”

His inaugural address made before a sea of heads, who waved thousands of star-studded flags, also rekindled hope for immigrants, women, as well as gays as it linked the challenges they face with the journey the United States must embark upon.

He said: “For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.

“Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country.

“Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.”

On the importance of the inaugural ceremony, Obama said: “Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our constitution.

“We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colours of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago.”

Delivering the opening remarks at the 57th inaugural ceremony, New York Democrat and head of the congressional committee on inauguration, Senator Chuck Schummer, described the occasion as “the perfect moment to renew our collective faith in America.”

The swearing-in of Vice-President Biden by Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor at about 11.46 am was preceded by the rendering of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” by the famous Brooklyn Tabernacle choir.

Adding colour to the ceremony were Singer Kelly Clarkson, who performed “America (My Country 'Tis of Thee)”, singer James Taylor, who performed “America the Beautiful”, Beyonce, who performed the national anthem, Richard Blanco, who gave the inaugural poem, and the US Marine Band.

The first official assignment performed by Obama after his inauguration was the signing of the paperwork to nominate four new members of his cabinet and national security team - John Brennan, CIA; Chuck Hagel, Secretary of Defence; John Kerry, Secretary of State; and Jack Lew, Secretary of the Treasury.

Two official balls – the Commander-in-Chief’s Ball – for members of the armed services, and the inaugural ball, for the invitees of the president, also held Monday.

The inaugural ceremonies would be round off Tuesday with a national prayer service at the National Cathedral also in Washington DC.

Barcelona respect Valdes' decision

Zubizarreta: Barcelona respect Valdes' decision

The shot-stopper communicated via his agents that he will leave Camp Nou when his deal runs out at the end of next season, and the Blaugrana have called for fans to support him

Jan 18, 2013 2:20:00 PM

By Sam Lee

Getty

Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta has insisted that the club respect Victor Valdes' decision not to renew his contract.

The goalkeeper, whose current deal runs until 2014, revealed on Thursday that he will not entertain talks over a new agreement.

And Zubizarreta explained that Barca officials did not have a chance to offer their shot-stopper improved terms, and has urged fans to support the 31-year-old's decision to leave Camp Nou.

"We were holding the first meeting to initiate the process for renewing Victor's contract. The meeting began with us expressing the club's desire to extend his contract, because we consider him to be a top class goalkeeper," he told Barca TV.

"But before we could make any proposal or discuss anything, his agent said the decision was already made and meditated, and that he will not be staying any later than June 30, 2014. It is an irrevocable decision.

"We must respect the professional decision of a player who has spent 12 years in this home.

"With that in mind, we are asking you to continue supporting him and to encourage him as much as you have done throughout his career. He is committed to this jersey until June 30, 2014 and will defend the goal with everything he has and knows.

"Meanwhile, we shall work together to see what the next steps should be, along with him and his agent, to work together to deal with this situation that arose yesterday [Thursday]."

Earlier in January, Valdes claimed that he wanted to end his career at Barcelona, but also hinted that he might be tempted by pastures new.

"Since I signed the last contract I have not spoken about it. I signed the last one in June 2009 and have not been concerned since," he said at the time.

"It is not the time for me to be worrying about it, there is still time. I'm focused on winning games. My dream is to retire here… Time will tell.

"I have spent 11 years here and as goalkeeper it is difficult in many ways. I do not rule out other cultures, other football, other countries, we will see."

Reports in Spain suggest that Valdes is holding out for wages similar to Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, and have linked the Spain goalkeeper with a move to Liverpool.

The British press, meanwhile, have suggested that he could be replaced by Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea.

Facebook Launches Graph Search

Facebook Launches Its Own Search Engine: Graph Search

The new engine, dubbed Graph Search, was announced at a media event at Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., Tuesday, ending weeks of speculation that the social networking giant may be prepping its own branded smartphone or a new mobile app.

The Graph Search tool was touted by Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg as being an intuitive search engine that lets users perform searches with "natural" language rather than keywords. Unlike most search engines, Graph Search was built to respond to longer queries like "People who like tennis and live nearby" or "Sushi restaurants in Palo Alto my friends have liked" rather than the shorter keyword searches performed by sites like Google

Graph Search can also handle queries related to photos, allowing users to search for "Photos of my family" or "Photos of my friends taken in Italy," for example.

Facebook further distinguished Graph Search from generic Web search engines by explaining that every piece of content retrieved has "its own audience" and can't necessarily be seen by everybody on the site. Graph Search will only display content to users who would have been able to see it anyway, per their pre-existing privacy controls.

"We've built Graph Search from the start with privacy in mind, and it respects the privacy and audience of each piece of content on Facebook," wrote Tom Stocky, director of product management at Facebook, and Lars Rasmussen, director of engineering at Facebook, in the company blog Tuesday. "It makes finding new things much easier, but you can only see what you could already view elsewhere on Facebook."

Privacy concerns among Facebook users escalated last year, when the networking site killed off a feature allowing users to vote to change certain governance or privacy settings.

According to Eden Zoller, principal analyst at Ovum, Graph Search will significantly improve Facebook's search function, but it could also thrust the company's "mixed track record" with privacy back into the spotlight.

"Before the arrival of Facebook's Graph Search, the search function on Facebook was basic and as such, a wasted opportunity given Facebook's imperative to strengthen advertising revenues. Facebook Graph Search will no doubt leverage member data to provide advertisers with more targeted, personalized advertising opportunities going forward," Zoller said in a statement Tuesday. "But Facebook needs tread very carefully here and be mindful of user privacy. It claims to have built Graph Search with privacy in mind, but Facebook has a mixed track record on this front and is in the habit of pushing privacy to the limits of what is acceptable."

Investors also appeared unsure about the new Graph Search tool, with Facebook shares dropping 2.6 percent Tuesday afternoon.

Facebook said Graph Search is still in the "very early" stages of development. The tool is available in beta today, with the final version being built over the coming months. Once completed, Graph Search will likely be embraced by companies advertising on Facebook, as it will help them send customized ads to users based on their gender, age or location.

When Graph Search officially goes live, Zuckerberg said it will join the Timeline and Newsfeed features as the "third pillar" of Facebook.

Guardiola To Take Over At Bayern

Bayern Munich have confirmed Pep Guardiola will become the club's new manager in the summer.

Guardiola, 41, has been without a club since leaving Barcelona at the end of the 2011-12 season as he sought time away from football.

During his sabbatical in America, the Spanish coach has been linked with several clubs, including Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and AC Milan.

However, Bayern have moved to secure his services for the 2013-14 campaign after they announced on Wednesday he has agreed a three-year deal at the Allianz Arena.

Guardiola, who won three Liga titles and two Champions League trophies during his time at Barca, will succeed Jupp Heynckes as Bayern boss.

Bayern confirmed the news on their official Twitter account: "Jupp #Heynckes will finish his successful career by the end of this season. Pep #Guardiola will take over as FC Bayern head coach in July."

Electoral Integrity

Electoral Integrity; The road to sustainable development

Electoral Integrity; The road to sustainable development. By Olewuike Daniel

The quest for good governance and development dates back to both military regime, and present democratic government since 1999. We should note however that electoral integrity has been a major problem in Nigeria which vis a’ vis has led to truncating Nigeria’s quest to reap the fruits of good governance and sustainable development

Electoral Integrity is a difficult concept to define but an essential element of a democratic government system. Electoral Integrity is inherent to the principles of democracy. It contributes to the administration of free and fair elections, without which democracy would be compromised.

The need for electoral integrity cannot stand without the involvement of students(youths), electoral observers which includes independent observers, civil society coalitions and the media, given way to fair, transparent, and equitable election administration.

An election is the outcome of a complex process requiring the participation of a multituple of players. There are winners and losers in every election. The stakes are high, and the temptation is great to ensure victory through illegal or morally questionable means. Election results can be rigged to predetermine who will win or lose. An election can be disrupted, casting doubt on the legitimacy of the process. In all an election without integrity subverts the purpose of a democratic election, and cannot be considered fair and equitable.

Nigeria has gone through regimes Electoral umpires in this quest of maintaining electoral integrity and building good governance and integrity. Students and youth alike are not left out in ensuring that Nigeria attains this level, looking at the fact that they play a major role in ensuring that elections sanctity are not tempered with but the wish of the people are maintained.

It is important to note that good systems expose and combat electoral corruption, and ensure integrity. The priority of most electoral agencies is to create an electoral system that imposes checks and balances on the activities of election administrators. The legal framework sets out electoral integrity protection mechanisms and defines the institutional structure supporting it. Under the legal framework, the authority of each branch and each position within the election administration can be delegated and limited to ensure that checks are in place and abuse of the system is prevented.

.Given socio-political rivalries and the threat of electoral corruption, Electoral integrity cannot be taken for granted. Mechanisms for maintaining and implementing integrity need to be established within the very organizations that administer elections. These mechanisms must make it possible to monitor actions of the electoral administration; they must ensure oversight of the electoral process by other government sectors or agencies, civil society, and the media; and they must provide for enforcement of rules and regulations through administrative or legal means

Electoral integrity is particularly important; without effective enforcement, the best rules and regulations are merely good intentions. It is necessary to establish enforcement mechanisms so that anyone breaching election legislation is stopped and prosecuted in a timely, professional and non-partisan manner. Effective law enforcement will help not only to maintain the integrity of the process but also to prevent future problems.
Above all the efforts and contribution of students to nurturing our country’s democracy over the years has played a major role on what we have today, but this however can be built on and harnessed to ensure that electoral integrity, good governance and development in the country is sustained with the aim of improving the well being of individuals living in the country. We can all join hands to ensure that the electoral process leading to good governance is peaceful, free and fair.