Nigeria Vs Zambia: Impossible may happen

With just two game remaining, Zambia sit three points behind Nigeria, grateful only that their fate is still in their own hands- beat Nigeria by a wide margin and silence Cameroon in the last game.

Not going to the World Cup would be the biggest catastrophe in Nigeria's history. The World Cup in Russia next year will be their sixth appearance since making their debut in the USA 1994, the same year that they beat Zambia 2 – 1 to lift the Africa Cup in Tunisia under the tutelage of Clemens Westerhof.

JJ Okocha

That year, Nigeria had players like Peter Rufai in goal, Augustine Eguavoen, Uche Okechukwu, Mutiu Adepoju, JJ Okocha, Sunday Oliseh, Samson Siasia, Efani Ekoku and late Stephen Keshi.

Zambia had "Great" Kalusha Bwalya, the two Malitoli brothers - Mordon and Kenneth, Elijah Litana, Jonston Bwalya, Gibby Mbasela and Zeddy Saileti to

Kalusha Bwalya

mention just a few. The coach then was late Ian Poterfield. The Scot sadly died of cancer aged 61 in September 2007, having coached an array of national teams.

That was then and this is now. The two teams have the different set of players with different pedigree. On paper, the Super Eagles are the more experienced and exposed side with the likes of John Obi Mikel, Victor Moses, Kelechi Iheanacho, and others who have played at the highest level.

Zambia on the other hand has a handful of new players from the Under 20 team that won the Africa Cup and participated at the World Cup. Fashion Sakala, Enock Mwepu, and Patson Daka who are aided by experienced Kennedy Mweene and Chisamba Lungu.   

Ikelechi

Sakala

In Saturday’s game Nigeria requires only a point to qualify as they have ten points and a plus seven goal difference. Zambia needs an outright win to keep their hopes alive. They need six or four points from their last two games, hoping the Super Eagles drop points in both games. That is just a dream that in football can happen.

The Supper Eagles have had a brilliant qualification campaign, they picked up full points at home to Zambia, won two more and have drawn one. The Chipolopolo Boys have won two, drawn one and lost one. They have seven points – three less than the Eagles.

As things stand, Zambia are the only side who can overhaul Nigeria at the top of Group B after Cameroon and Algeria's World Cup chances were ended last month. Can they? If you ask me, impossible may happen. 

My Encounter with Jobless Youths

The Questions On My Mind: Is Zambia Turning into A Police State?

No, journalists don’t twist things

Perceptions of journalists are almost always negative — even if misguided.

It is easy to perceive us as liars, chaotic, rude and lacking in consideration for others. Outside of our professional practice, we are husbands, wives, fathers and mothers. 

We have different aspirations also. Some have chosen this path to serve the public while others do so to win favours from those they cover. The later cannot be said to be journalists. They are something else. 

Do journalists twist information? Some, yes. But others are purely professionals who chase the truth wherever it is hidden. Our first obligation should be to the public. Our commitment is to the truth.

We represent the public and therefore we must be in touch with public opinion. We must be fully aware and understand the aspirations of the people. When we ask questions of government they do so on behalf of the people.

Journalists, like any citizen operate within the law. We know that defaming people or lying about events can land us in trouble. As we go about doing our work, we are also mindful of balancing ethical and legal issues.

When ethical issues emerge in our workplace or in our personal lives, we are often told to follow our conscience. It is never easy to do so. Sound ethical thinking requires a more analytical process of deliberation and discussion and should be based on a foundation of well-considered values and principles.

There is a huge difference between ethics and law. There are many examples when ethics can clash with the law. For example, a judge can order a journalist to reveal the source of his or her information but because of the promise you made with the source, you will refuse to do so. In law you will have committed an offence but ethically that is the right thing to do – never to betray your source.

The concepts of the law and ethics are similar but differ in significant ways. Both are concerned with governing conduct, with protecting rights, and with determining what is right and what is wrong. They both operate in harmony but can come into conflict as well. Broadly speaking the law tells us what we have the right to do. Ethics helps us decide the right thing to do.

Most journalists insist they have an ethical obligation to refuse to disclose the identity of confidential sources. Unless they can honour these promises, they argue, potential sources will refuse to speak to them in the future, and the public will be denied important information.

One thing that cannot be ignored is that, journalists are human beings. Like anybody else, they have values and principles. It is these values which guides their conduct. What we value as individuals also shapes the choice of topics or subjects to write about or indeed our career path.

Some journalists have chosen to use their profession to get to the top, to dine with kings thereby betraying the public. How do you expect a person who drinks from the same bowl with politicians to be objective? For we know that the drink loosens the tongue and you start speaking the language of your master.  

Photos: Newseum, Washington DC

No One Benefits If Women Are Held Back

The International Women’s Day came and went. I have been seeing women in positions of power and influence and I thought we had made great strides in achieving gender equality until I looked at the National Assembly website.

Of the 166 Members of Parliament, only 30 or 18% are women. Of the 29 full cabinet ministers only nine are women. They say numbers don’t lie and for sure in this case we are still far from matching our pronouncements with action. We still have very few women in key decision making positions, especially elective ones.

Even in other fields, it is pretty much the same. It has taken the country more than 50 years to produce the first female fighter pilot. Thokozile Muwamba loves aerobatics and her ambition is to become the first female air force commander in the country. I am sure very few male folks will tolerate this! As she noted in the interview the BBC, “the aircraft knows no sex”.

https://web.facebook.com/bbcafrica/videos/vb.285361880228/10155111104985229/?type=2&theater

Like Thokozile, over the past few decades, women around the world have been pushing boundaries in educational achievement, political representation, and economic participation—yet, gender gaps remain.

Unfortunately, most women are still shunted in the kitchens and fields in the villages as men continue to claim the lion’s share from the national cake. Are men smarter than women to claim what they have? The answer is definitely no. I have seen terrible men in society but I have also witnessed smart women.

Globally, just 55% of the women participate in the labour force compared with 80 percent of men—and women are only now earning what men did a decade ago. I am sure the statistic above does not take into account the many other jobs that women perform.

As countries around the world seek to grow their economies and reduce inequality, tapping into the huge potential of women can be a game changer, says IMF Director General Christine Lagarde. Recent analytical work—including that done at the IMF—clearly demonstrates the compelling business case for women’s empowerment. Everyone has a role to play—including governments, businesses, and international institutions.

Recent research by the IMF shows increasing women’s participation in the labor force can deliver significant macroeconomic gains. For example, the research says, if Latin American countries raised their female labor participation to the average of the Nordic countries (about 60 percent), GDP per capita could be up to 10 percent higher.

When the Rwandan delegation went to Beijing, China, in 1995 for the landmark women’s conference, just a year after the genocide in their country, the East African nation was cited as one of the worst violators of women’s rights. Today, as the world marks 22 years since the Beijing Declaration on gender equality, Rwanda leads other countries with women making up more than 60% of parliamentarians.

In the words of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, “No one benefits if women are held back. We have to change mindsets, not just the laws”. The trend in Rwanda is positive. If it continues, the country may just meet the new 2030 deadline for gender equality in all sectors of the economy.

Rwanda has made great progress in promoting gender equality, largely driven by strong Government commitment. Rwanda was second in the world according to the 2009 Social Watch Gender Equity Index, with only Sweden having a higher score. Gender equality is enshrined in the constitution and Rwanda was the first country in the world to have more than 50% female members of Parliament.

Rwanda provides lessons for countries like Zambia. While Zambia has a ministry of Gender, in Rwanda the government has gone further by by adding a gender monitoring office, a commitment to gender-based budgeting, and in recent years there has been a strong emphasis on fighting gender based violence. Women have the same rights to inherit land as men. Girls are equally as likely to attend school as boys and there is a Girls Education Policy and Implementation Plan in place.

However, a gender gap remains in public sector higher education, particularly in science and engineering, but women are taking advantage of the opportunities to study in private higher education institutions. Although the majority of women, especially poor women in rural areas, have yet to benefit, the gap between men and women employed in non-farm work is widening.

Going forward, it is clear that achieving gender equality will require not just transforming economies to reduce inequalities, but also getting countries to accelerate the implementation of commitments they made to women 20 years ago.