Gafar's blog

ABUJA—The Presidency was yesterday in a happy mood when it discovered that the newly launched jobs portal of the Federal Government “N-Power. gov.ng,” has recorded over 400,000 successful registrations within 36 hours. This was announced by the Job Creation Unit in the Presidency. But there was an air of puerile feelings around the Presidential Villa that the celebration was misplaced as it would mean celebrating unemployment which should ordinarily put the seat of power on a sober mood. It would be recalled that the portal was opened for online applications from unemployed Nigerians graduates and non-graduates alike, Sunday, June 12, 2016. Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Job Creation, Mr. Afolabi Imoukhuede, who works in the office of Vice President, Yemi Osinabjo, was quoted in a statement as saying 403,528 applications had been received as at yesterday afternoon. “We have been impressed by the enthusiastic response to the call for applications. As at noon on Monday, ...

Sport Minnows Iceland earned a 1-1 draw with Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal on their European Championship debut as the superstar forward failed to score on a night he equalled his country’s appearance record. A superb finish by Nani gave Portugal the lead before Iceland’s industrious midfielder Birkir Bjarnason levelled for the Scandinavians in Saint-Etienne. Ronaldo equalled Luis Figo’s record number of caps with both the Portugal legends now on 127 appearances. However, it was a quiet night for the Real Madrid forward, who failed to become the first man to score in four European Championships, as he was frustrated by Iceland’s dogged defence and a great display from goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson. “We were on top, we were the better team and we played the better football, but Iceland are a good team and played a lot of long balls, which caused us problems,” said goal-scorer Nani. “We had enough chances but we couldn’t score another one. That’s football.” Ice...

Brazil coach Dunga was sacked on Tuesday after the Selecao’s humiliating group-stage elimination from the Copa America Centenario. The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said in a statement it had decided to fire Dunga and “dissolve the Brazilian national team’s coaching staff” following their latest debacle. The news came after CBF officials met with Dunga earlier on Tuesday. The exit from the Copa America centennial edition in the United States was the latest blow to demoralised, recession-hit Brazil, which is still reeling from the national team’s 7-1 World Cup semi-final thrashing by Germany on home soil in 2014. After an opening 0-0 draw with Ecuador was followed by a 7-1 win over Haiti, Brazil needed a draw with Peru on Monday to reach the quarter-finals but instead crashed out of the tournament after controversially losing 1-0 to a disputed goal. Speculation had swirled that Dunga was on his way out, but the coach said he was not afraid of the sack. “I am only afraid of deat...