THE VICTORIOUS EAGLES WITH PRESIDENT GOODLUCK

President Goodluck Jonathan poses with the victorious Super Eagles and the coveted AFCON trophy during a reception held at the presidential villa on Tuesday, February 12, 2013.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO REOPEN NYSC FARM

The Federal Government said on Thursday that it would reopen National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) farms in each state of the federation. The Minister for youth Development, Dr Inuwa Abdulkadir, said this in an interview in Jos, Plateau. Abdulkadir said that the establishment of the farms would go a long way to complement the existing NYSC Loan Revolving Scheme aimed at engaging the corps members in agriculture “Year in year out, every batch of the NYSC has been participating. But you know, it’s still a pilot programme but we intend to expand and reopen NSYC farms across the country and utilise them. “This is going to be in partnership with the state governments and the Bank of Agriculture and the Small and Medium Scale Development Agency of Nigeria. “The whole idea is to expose them to agro business enterprise so that at the end of the day, they can become self-employed or even employers. ”

           According to him, once the youth are involved in agriculture, it will be of immense benefit to the nation as it will create employment opportunities and boost the economy.

“When they are in multiples the nation stands to benefit, because we will have more people involved in agriculture and that will boost the economy. “The most concrete thing we are thinking of doing and we will start soon, is this partnership with the Development Bank to boost agriculture and to encourage young persons to go into agro-business from production, to processing, to marketing. The minister said he was optimistic that the current drive at making agriculture attractive and lucrative to the youth would reduce the rate of unemployment in the country. (NAN)

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KENYA CAPTAIN DANNIS OLIECH BOOST OF BEATING NIGERIA

Harambee Stars captain Dennis Oliech is confident that his team can cause an upset when they face Africa champions Nigeria in a World Cup qualifier on March 23 in Calabar. Oliech, who arrived in the Kenya on Tuesday, has insisted that Nigeria will be under pressure and with proper preparations, the Stars can dim their opponents away. "The pressure will be on Nigeria especially having won the Africa Cup of Nations trophy. We will go into the match as underdogs. Everybody will be looking at how Nigeria will perform, this being their first competitive match after 2013 Afcon final.” “All we need to do is to prepare well and there is every possibility that we can get a positive result in Nigeria.” "The team is in good shape especially after we beat Libya last month in Tunisia. We just need to maintain the same momentum and spirit,".                                    He said though Nigeria has always beaten Kenya in previous matches, there is a new positive spirit in the Kenyan camp and beating the Super Eagles remains a major possibility. “We are no longer the underdogs we used to be when losing to Nigeria. We have matured with time and grown in confidence,” he observed. Oliech praised the decision to appoint coach Adel Amrouche for Harambee Stars and pointed out that the players are responding positively to him. He regretted the absence of Parma midfielder Macdonald Mariga saying this denies the team great experience. Mariga is currently nursing an injury and it is not clear when he will recover. Oliech at the same said he has settled down at new club AC Ajaccio and is enjoying himself in the French top league. “Ajaccio is a big club in the top league and this gives me a lot of competition something that is certain to raise my game. I have settled well and looking forward to a great time." "I will see how it goes here and probably move in June if there is an opportunity. Otherwise, I would love to settle," he said.