Tag: Stephen Keshi

What did we celebrate in 2013 in Africa?

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments1 Comment
Super Eagles lifting the trophy
Super Eagles lifting the trophy
Pretty Yende
Pretty Yende

There was a lot to celebrate in Africa in 2013.  Here are some of those things.

– In January, South African opera singer, Pretty Yende, was the first African to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.  You can watch her interview on BBC.

– On February 10, Nigeria’s Super Eagles won this year’s African Cup of Nations.  Stephen Keshi’s team made us all proud.

– In March, FESPACO 2013 was a success and featured movies and documentaries from across the continent.

FESPACO 2013
FESPACO 2013

– On March 14, Uhuru Kenyatta won Kenya’s presidential elections.  These elections were the people’s choice, and Uhuru Kenyatta defeated the ‘machine’-chose guy Raila Odinga (Obama’s cousin); a very good example of democracy by Africans for Africans.

– In April, Cecile Kyenge became the first Black minister nominated in Italy.  Dr. Kyenge is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

– On 31 July, Zimbabwe general and presidential elections went peacefully with the full re-election of Robert Mugabe.

– In August, 12 political figures from Laurent Gbagbo‘s FPI were released in Côte d’Ivoire.  Among them was Pascal Affi N’Guessan, previous prime minister of Gbagbo, who was unjustly detained without hearing for 2 years.

Samuel Eto'o Fils 'Birth of a Champion'
Samuel Eto’o Fils ‘Birth of a Champion’

– NoViolet Bulawayo was the first black African woman and Zimbabwean author to be shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize for her novel We need new names.

– In September, Samuel Eto’o Fils (Cameroonian and one of Africa’s best soccer forward) came out with an autobiographic comic book.  Birth of a Champion is the first comic book on an African football player, and will hopefully inspire many youths around the globe.

– In November, Cameroonian author Léonora Miano won the 2013 Feminina Prize for her novel La Saison de l’Ombre, which talks about slavery from those who lived after seeing their relatives captured.

Aliko Dangote
Aliko Dangote

– Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, vowed to build the largest privately owned refinery in Nigeria, which produces more oil than any other African country but must import most of the motor fuel and diesel it uses because existing refineries are dilapidated and inefficient.

Folorunsho Alakija
Folorunsho Alakija

– This year also saw two African women cross the billionaire bar: Isabel Dos Santos of Angola, and Folorunsho Alakija of Nigeria.  Alakija is actually the richest black woman billionaire ahead of Oprah.

– Five (5) African nations won their tickets to the World cup in Brazil 2014.  The 5 countries are: Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria.

Nigeria wins the African Cup of Nations 2013

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments2 Comments
Super Eagles lifting the trophy
Super Eagles lifting the trophy

I watched Nigeria’s victory yesterday with great delight. I must admit that after they defeated Cote dIvoire in quarter-finals. I already felt that Nigeria would be the winners and honestly, the Stallions of Burkina Faso were no match to the Super Eagles of Nigeria.  I am also delighted because this was Nigerias first victory since 1994 (19 years), and Stephen Keshi has become the first man to win the African Cup of Nations both as a player and as a coach. Truly the victory should be dedicated to him, and his hard work. He started coaching Togo and qualified them to the world cup  in 2010, and once the Togolese were qualified they sacked him to hire a European coach. Keshi went on to coach Mali, and now his beloved country Nigeria. At first the Nigerian federation did not want to give him the job, but it is hard to deny Keshi’s greatness. They finally gave him the job, and then did not pay him for 2 months prior to the cup (the Nigerian federation would have never dared doing that to a European coach).

Stephen Keshi, Nigeria's coach
Stephen Keshi, Nigeria’s coach

I am truly happy for Keshi, who, this week again, mentioned the fact that Africans coaches were just as good as European coaches, and could manage African teams and lead them to greatness. He did just that to a team which had known no real success since 1994 he redeemed Nigerias super eagles, and showed to everyone that Africans could and should trust African coaches just like the Egyptians used to trust Hassan Shehata who led them to three successive African Nationss cup (2006, 2008, and 2010). Truly, I dedicate this victory to Stephen Keshi, and to all the African coaches who love their country and only dream of being given the chance to take their countries to greatest heights.

Just for fun, somebody said on BBC, that “whenever Cameroon is not at the cup, Nigeria wins“… I didn’t know that we were the “bête noire” of Nigeria. I guess everyone knows their strongest opponents… even footballers!

African Cup of Nations 2013 – onto semi-finals

On By Dr. Y.In Great MomentsLeave a comment
CAN 2013
CAN 2013

My prediction for the first day of the quarter finals of the African Cup of Nations was right on: Ghana did beat Cape-Verde by a 2-0, and Mali edged out the host country South Africa 1-1 by penalty shoot out (3-1), and advanced to the semi-finals.

The Africa Cup of Nations/ La Coupe d'Afrique des Nations
The Africa Cup of Nations/ La Coupe d’Afrique des Nations

However, on the 2nd day, all went wrong. The cup’s big favorite, Côte d’Ivoire, were edged out by valiant Nigeria by 2-1.  The Super Eagles of Stephen Keshi maintained the pressure on the Elephants throughout the game, and came out the stronger side.  All hails to Stephen Keshi who managed to line up a strong offense, and defense, to take down the mighty favorites Côte d’Ivoire of Didier Drogba.  Unfortunately, this ends up the dream of the ‘greatest generation’ (as Didier Drogba, Bonaventure Kalou, Kolo Touré, Yaya Touré, Boubacar Barry, etc are known) of Côte d’Ivoire to ever lift up the African Cup of Nations.  Although I am sad for Didier Drogba who has been one of Africa’s greatest players of the past decade (and one of the world’s best forwards), I salute Nigeria’s hard work which got them through to the semi-finals.  After lifting cups in Europe, Didier never got a chance to lift an African trophy… quite sad…

Lastly, Burkina Faso beat Togo 1-0 to find themselves in their first ever semi-final.

The line-up for Wednesday will be fun to watch: Ghana vs. Burkina Faso (you have guessed who will be my favorite to win that game: Ghana), and Nigeria vs. Mali promises to bring the heat up (Nigeria of Stephen Keshi being my favorite).

Who do you think will end up in the final of the 2013 African Cup of Nations? What do you think the scores for the semi-finals will be?