Featured post

Beyond Duplication: Building Stronger Institutions

By Fred Nwaozor Nigeria’s law-enforcement institutions remain central to the protection of lives, property, public resources and the rule of law. However, concerns about overlapping mandates, institutional weaknesses, inadequate coordination and the cost of maintaining numerous agencies performing closely related functions have continued to generate debate. Strengthening these institutions should therefore go beyond increasing personnel or procuring equipment. It should involve structural reforms that improve effectiveness, accountability and public confidence. One important area for reform is the rationalisation of agencies with substantially overlapping responsibilities. The existence of several institutions dealing with corruption, financial crimes, economic offences and related misconduct can create duplication, jurisdictional confusion and unnecessary administrative expenditure. A carefully designed merger of related agencies could pr...

SPORTS: Real Madrid FC Sacks Coach Lopetegui after a Disgraceful Outing


 
The Spanish revered league, Real Madrid FC has sacked Julen Lopetegui as manager after four and a half months in charge at the Bernabeu.

The Spaniard succeeded Zinedine Zidane in June but the crushing 5-1 El Clasico defeat by Barcelona on Sunday, 28th October 2018 was their fifth loss in six games.

Real, Champions League winners for the past three years, are ninth in La Liga after their worst start since 2001-02.

The 52-year-old will be "provisionally replaced" by ex-player Santiago Solari, coach of B team Castilla.

Lopetegui took a training session on Monday, 29th October 2018 but his fate was confirmed following a board meeting.

A club statement said "there is a great disproportion between the quality of the staff of Real Madrid" and "the results obtained to date".

Eight of the current Real squad are on the 30-man shortlist for the 2018 Ballon d'Or.
Solari has a favourable run of fixtures for the start of his tenure, beginning with a Spanish Cup match against Segunda Division B Group 4 side Melilla on Wednesday.

Real then play Valladolid - sixth in La Liga - on Saturday, Group G's bottom side Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League on 7 November, and the mid-table Celta Vigo the following Sunday.
It is the second time Lopetegui has been sacked this year having been dismissed by Spain two days before the World Cup.

That sacking came after it emerged the Spanish football federation was unaware he was in talks to take the Real job after the tournament.

Real have 14 out of a possible 30 points in the league this season and have taken only one from their past five matches - their worst run since they went pointless in the final five games of 2008-09 under Juande Ramos.

They are now six points above the Spanish top flight's relegation places, and seven behind leaders Barcelona.
Fred Nwaozor, popularly known as TheMediaAmbassador, is a Nigerian tech expert, author, creative & content writer, media strategist, policy analyst, blogger, public speaker and rights activist. The renowned columnist regularly writes for the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), and is the Founder & Convener of Right Thinkers Movement (RITMO), Nigeria. He's a chartered industrial physicist, engineer and IT personnel. As a media guru, he enjoys an active presence in all media segments - including electronic, print & online - since two decades ago till date. As a full-time researcher and educator, he's a regular contributor and peer reviewer for various internationally-noted engineering journals. As Telecommunications and Automation engineer, his research interest mainly lies in System Modelling, Internet of Things (IoT), Smart city, Cybersecurity, Wireless networks, and Machine Learning (ML).