Sterling tweets : well done Uncle Kelechi..

[ohsee]

I have said it before n I will say it again. This cic bobo is just full of .... he should b in a remote village somewhere throwing his young kinsmen that are making it juju... that is d kind of person he is. Full of hate.

Chief, cic is actually a very sharp guy, and he does have a point about the rampant nature of corrupt practices in our country. However, in this particular issue, he suffers from an all too human problem, a problem of human nature: it is the need to make sense of complex experience by generalizing about it. We all do it at one time or another. When you add to that the truth that most men tenaciously hold on to ideas they formed in their 20s, and refuse to accept that things may have changed, or are not the same in this particular circumstance, then you understand what's going on here. Such behavior is not peculiar to cic; even great men of science fall victim.

[ohsee]

Taking your own example from 2013, Nigeria was required to run mandatory scans, in which the accuracy rate is said to be 99%. They went to Morocco and 3 were sent home after a random test. 3 out of a squad of 23 is about 13%. Is that enough for you to see how Nigerian officials can mess up your 99% accuracy rate? If 13% fail a random test on something that is supposed to be 99% accurate, how much faith do you have that the remaining 87% are genuine 17 year olds? Is that “reasoning supported by evidence” (from you!) that you can’t trust tests conducted by corrupt officials in Nigeria? Officials that told you a 30-something Chukwudi is 17 and a 16 year old Obinwa is overage!

Chief cic,
I have left out your previous comments because they do not add to the debate. Your above comment shows your refusal to make the effort to understand. I said you need to focus on the history of this team, rather than the fact that Nigeria has been corrupt in the past.

Once again, I will try to explain why your position is not sound. The fact that the three randomly selected players were found overage by CAF testing alerted Nigerians to the fact that mago-mago is still going on. The hue and cry forced the football authorities to test everyone again. Your view that they did not do it right again is based on NOTHING but prior belief. My view that they did it right this time is based on the fact that they sent home at least a further six players, AND the fact that random testing in the UAE turned up NOTHING. If the majority of the players--as much as 87% in your claim--were still overage after testing, random testing by FIFA would have found at the very least one, if not all three.

The point about a team of academy players is really funny. Have you been to any of those academies? What gives you confidence that the academies are not packed with overage players?

And what gives YOU the confidence that they are, and that Kelechi is one of them? Why would an overage player--25 years old according to 1naija--as talented as Kelechi lock himself in an academy when he could be playing with Enyimba and honing his skills in a professional environment? What is the sense in that?

In your efforts to find ways to twist things to your position, you are ignoring a HUGE change that has occurred at our U-17 levels: NEARLY ALL THOSE PLAYERS CAME FROM ACADEMIES. Now why is that? In the past, "U-17s" were pulled from professional clubsides. Was Kanu not already playing for Iwuanyawu, and voted Best Young Player in the country before playing for Nigeria's U-17s? Was Philip Osondu not playing for Rangers?

You really don’t want to go down the route of photographs. We already have a photograph of the “older” Sterling and the “younger uncle” Kelechi.

Of course I am willing to go down the route of photographs. The photos blow your case out of the water.
Photographic history:

2008


2010


2012


2013




And for those who want to look at more photos, here is his Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelechi- ... tos_stream

[1naija]

A photo of "31 year old" Kelechi from our very own site in 2012, well before anybody knew who he was.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=226368&p=3652824&hi ... o#p3652824
Posted by Catalyst no less, with the caption:
"Future Stars: Kelechi Iheanacho and Alhassan Ibrahim (Right)"


Does he not look 34 guys?

No he does not look 34 in this picture, but if you ask if he looks 24 or 25 you may get a different answer. Abi?

Bros, I am 100% certain, na you go wound over this topic, and I will rub it in when it happens.

No bet money on this o! You go lose well well..

[1naija]

Personally, I don't think he is 30, but he sure aint 18.

[ohsee]

No bet money on this o! You go lose well well..

"Put your money where your mouth is
Or you ain't saying a damn thing..."

(Rose Royce)

Oya, I put down $100. Put your own. I say 18 or 18 + 1. Oddawise mechionu gi.

[ohsee]

Personally, I don't think he is 30, but he sure aint 18.

Proof? Evidence? Oddawise mechionu gi! In di original Ingirishi of us nyoung-nyoung pipuls, Uncle 1naija please STFU if you have neither evidence nor proof!

[1naija]

No bet money on this o! You go lose well well..

"Put your money where your mouth is
Or you ain't saying a damn thing..."

(Rose Royce)

Oya, I put down $100. Put your own. I say 18 or 18 + 1. Oddawise mechionu gi.

No, because I would be chopping your money for free.

[ohsee]

No bet money on this o! You go lose well well..

"Put your money where your mouth is
Or you ain't saying a damn thing..."

(Rose Royce)

Oya, I put down $100. Put your own. I say 18 or 18 + 1. Oddawise mechionu gi.

No, because I would be chopping your money for free.

Please, I am begging you to chop my dollar for free. Just be careful I don't chop your own.

[Mr. Piffington]

Uncle ohsee don vex.

[YUJAM]

Chief. If I were to guess, Based on these pics, he looks about 15/16 in 2008

The pic in 2012 looks about 18.

But that's just my guess

Taking your own example from 2013, Nigeria was required to run mandatory scans, in which the accuracy rate is said to be 99%. They went to Morocco and 3 were sent home after a random test. 3 out of a squad of 23 is about 13%. Is that enough for you to see how Nigerian officials can mess up your 99% accuracy rate? If 13% fail a random test on something that is supposed to be 99% accurate, how much faith do you have that the remaining 87% are genuine 17 year olds? Is that “reasoning supported by evidence” (from you!) that you can’t trust tests conducted by corrupt officials in Nigeria? Officials that told you a 30-something Chukwudi is 17 and a 16 year old Obinwa is overage!

Chief cic,
I have left out your previous comments because they do not add to the debate. Your above comment shows your refusal to make the effort to understand. I said you need to focus on the history of this team, rather than the fact that Nigeria has been corrupt in the past.

Once again, I will try to explain why your position is not sound. The fact that the three randomly selected players were found overage by CAF testing alerted Nigerians to the fact that mago-mago is still going on. The hue and cry forced the football authorities to test everyone again. Your view that they did not do it right again is based on NOTHING but prior belief. My view that they did it right this time is based on the fact that they sent home at least a further six players, AND the fact that random testing in the UAE turned up NOTHING. If the majority of the players--as much as 87% in your claim--were still overage after testing, random testing by FIFA would have found at the very least one, if not all three.

The point about a team of academy players is really funny. Have you been to any of those academies? What gives you confidence that the academies are not packed with overage players?

And what gives YOU the confidence that they are, and that Kelechi is one of them? Why would an overage player--25 years old according to 1naija--as talented as Kelechi lock himself in an academy when he could be playing with Enyimba and honing his skills in a professional environment? What is the sense in that?

In your efforts to find ways to twist things to your position, you are ignoring a HUGE change that has occurred at our U-17 levels: NEARLY ALL THOSE PLAYERS CAME FROM ACADEMIES. Now why is that? In the past, "U-17s" were pulled from professional clubsides. Was Kanu not already playing for Iwuanyawu, and voted Best Young Player in the country before playing for Nigeria's U-17s? Was Philip Osondu not playing for Rangers?

You really don’t want to go down the route of photographs. We already have a photograph of the “older” Sterling and the “younger uncle” Kelechi.

Of course I am willing to go down the route of photographs. The photos blow your case out of the water.
Photographic history:

2008


2010


2012


2013




And for those who want to look at more photos, here is his Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelechi- ... tos_stream

[ohsee]

Chief. If I were to guess, Based on these pics, he looks about 15/16 in 2008

The pic in 2012 looks about 18.

But that's just my guess

My good friend YUJAM, it's nice of you to guess, but when I was 16, I was very close to my final height. In that 2008 picture, Kelechi is one of the shortest guys on the bench; I hope you realize that today, he is a tall guy of 6ft 1in.

Let us all guess as much as we want, and make all sorts of unsubstantiated anonymous claims, just as long as we realize that for we Africans to get anywhere, we have to learn how to reason properly.

[YUJAM]

You make some good points Chief. It is really hard to tell how old he is. So I guess we should simply go with the official age until we have enough information to ascertain his real age.

Chief. If I were to guess, Based on these pics, he looks about 15/16 in 2008

The pic in 2012 looks about 18.

But that's just my guess

My good friend YUJAM, it's nice of you to guess, but when I was 16, I was very close to my final height. In that 2008 picture, Kelechi is one of the shortest guys on the bench; I hope you realize that today, he is a tall guy of 6ft 1in.

Let us all guess as much as we want, and make all sorts of unsubstantiated anonymous claims, just as long as we realize that for we Africans to get anywhere, we have to learn how to reason properly.

[ohsee]

You make some good points Chief. It is really hard to tell how old he is. So I guess we should simply go with the official age until we have enough information to ascertain his real age.

Chief YUJAM, please permit me to translate your comments above.
ohsee makes a few good points [a throwaway mollification statement]
[But] it is really hard to tell how old he is
[this is where you should have stopped. But you continue, and in the process contradict yourself]
So I guess we should simply go with the official age [in other words, we all know he must be lying, even though I said it is hard to tell how old he is]
until we have enough information to ascertain his real age [Even though I cannot tell his real age from his looks, I insist that he must be lying because I just know so].

[Sunset]

Chief. If I were to guess, Based on these pics, he looks about 15/16 in 2008

The pic in 2012 looks about 18.

But that's just my guess

My good friend YUJAM, it's nice of you to guess, but when I was 16, I was very close to my final height. In that 2008 picture, Kelechi is one of the shortest guys on the bench; I hope you realize that today, he is a tall guy of 6ft 1in.

Let us all guess as much as we want, and make all sorts of unsubstantiated anonymous claims, just as long as we realize that for we Africans to get anywhere, we have to learn how to reason properly.

[Damunk]

Chai! Kelechi don suffer.
What has a Nigerian boy gotta do to prove he is genuine?

Ohsee, thanks for dedicating the time to make the case.
This thread could do untold damage to the boy's career if the naysayers' words are taken as gospel.

[FATHER TIKO]

Oga Ohcee, seems to me there are more sinister agenda underlying the arguments of some of us stubbornly holding on to our wafer-thin "evidence" about Kelechi being over-age.

Even if cast-iron proof is provided, some of us would refuse to accept it.

It is sad.

[cic old boy]

Chai! Chai! Chai! Diaris age fraud oh!

Oga Ohsee, your post is like an article of faith with the occasional touches of reality.

This is really funny and just shows you have little idea of what is going on in Nigeria. You said CAF catching 3 age cheats alerted Nigerians to mago mago!!!

Do you mean alert the people doing mago mago to their own mago mago???!!! Who do you think is behind presenting old men as kids in Nigeria? a) the old men; b) the coaches; c) the NFF; d) all of the above?

Do you know that when we win youth tournaments with grown azz men everyone is rewarded by the govt? This is the incentive to cheat and to win by any means necessary. It is why we are great in youth tournaments and useless at senior level in terms of the WC. Nobody needs to alert any Nigerian official to mago mago since they are the ones doing it for financial gain.

These are the facts you can't explain away. Fifa mandated the FAs to test ALL players with something that claims to be 99% accurate. We claimed we tested them, yet in a random test 3 failed. I found out that the random tests involve 4 players. So in something that is meant to be 99% accurate, we claim we tested ALL the players, yet 90% failed in a random test of 4! And you want to claim my view is just based on "prior belief"!!!

Ok, alright, odinma, let's just assume this was in the bad old days of 2013!

Random testing in the UAE did not catch any cheat, but only 4 players out of 23 are tested in a test with 99% accuracy! Statisticians in the house, please breakdown the likelihood ratio of there being an overage player, many overage players, and there being no overage players in our squad. I suspect the likelihood of us having many overage players is higher.

Like I said earlier, I'm no expert on MRI scans and would not pretend to be for the purposes of internet debate. But I read somewhere that some research suggests that bone development happens later with sub-Saharan people. Could it explain 20 somethings passing the scan, I don't know. My lay opinion suggests older players have a chance of passing, Nigerian officials have a propensity to cheat, and with random tests only picking 4 out of our 23 man squads, we have a chance of having the majority of our youth teams being overage. So my position is that we are still cheating like there is no tomorrow, despite the steps to stop us.

Nna, I don't know if academies in Naija are filled with overage players. It was you that said our youth teams come from academies and used it as evidence that they are all yoofs. Even 1naija at 68 is called a "youth leader" in Naija. Most of our youth players coming from academies now is just a sign of the times in terms of the game going global. Many people are now involved as agents, spivs, etc and looking to "discover" the next player to sell to a foreign club. So many of these so-called academies have sprung up all over the place. In Kanu's time most of football development was at the mercy of clubs and schools. As most Naija clubs are not well run, the academies have grabbed many of the promising players.

Ol boy, your pics don't help your case oh The bobo looked at least 22 in 2013. I no be expert oh, but see the Boniface , the Adam's apple, etc. I tried to warn you that you don't want to be going down the route of photographic evidence, but you won't listen.

Nna, tell the truth and shame the devil, who should the "uncle" here :

[cic old boy]

Oga Ohcee, seems to me there are more sinister agenda underlying the arguments of some of us stubbornly holding on to our wafer-thin "evidence" about Kelechi being over-age.

Even if cast-iron proof is provided, some of us would refuse to accept it.

It is sad.

The only thing "sinister" here is age cheating denying genuine Nigerian youths a chance.

My "agenda" is simple. It is to tell the truth. The truth is that I don't know how old Kelechi is. The truth is that our country is so messed up that we can't rely on passports and birth certs. The truth is that MRI scans have been introduced to stem age cheating. The truth is that it hasn't stamped out the problem, even if it has reduced it. The truth is that I wouldn't stick my neck out and claim that Kelechi is 18. For me, it is a safer bet to think he is older.

The truth is that I have only carried on commenting here b/c people think they can force me to accept what I don't see as the truth.

[amafolas]

I have no reason to doubt his age. But if i didnt know his real age and I had to guess based on pics, mri and all other available info, I would guess he is between 19 and 21 max. From my eperience in Naija, we tend to cheat evry age grade competition. We play 12/ 13 year olds at U10, 15/16 at U13 etc. He looks 13/14 to me in that 2008.
I look forward to him playing at least 12 years of pro football barring major injuries.

Chief. If I were to guess, Based on these pics, he looks about 15/16 in 2008

The pic in 2012 looks about 18.

But that's just my guess

Taking your own example from 2013, Nigeria was required to run mandatory scans, in which the accuracy rate is said to be 99%. They went to Morocco and 3 were sent home after a random test. 3 out of a squad of 23 is about 13%. Is that enough for you to see how Nigerian officials can mess up your 99% accuracy rate? If 13% fail a random test on something that is supposed to be 99% accurate, how much faith do you have that the remaining 87% are genuine 17 year olds? Is that “reasoning supported by evidence” (from you!) that you can’t trust tests conducted by corrupt officials in Nigeria? Officials that told you a 30-something Chukwudi is 17 and a 16 year old Obinwa is overage!

Chief cic,
I have left out your previous comments because they do not add to the debate. Your above comment shows your refusal to make the effort to understand. I said you need to focus on the history of this team, rather than the fact that Nigeria has been corrupt in the past.

Once again, I will try to explain why your position is not sound. The fact that the three randomly selected players were found overage by CAF testing alerted Nigerians to the fact that mago-mago is still going on. The hue and cry forced the football authorities to test everyone again. Your view that they did not do it right again is based on NOTHING but prior belief. My view that they did it right this time is based on the fact that they sent home at least a further six players, AND the fact that random testing in the UAE turned up NOTHING. If the majority of the players--as much as 87% in your claim--were still overage after testing, random testing by FIFA would have found at the very least one, if not all three.

The point about a team of academy players is really funny. Have you been to any of those academies? What gives you confidence that the academies are not packed with overage players?

And what gives YOU the confidence that they are, and that Kelechi is one of them? Why would an overage player--25 years old according to 1naija--as talented as Kelechi lock himself in an academy when he could be playing with Enyimba and honing his skills in a professional environment? What is the sense in that?

In your efforts to find ways to twist things to your position, you are ignoring a HUGE change that has occurred at our U-17 levels: NEARLY ALL THOSE PLAYERS CAME FROM ACADEMIES. Now why is that? In the past, "U-17s" were pulled from professional clubsides. Was Kanu not already playing for Iwuanyawu, and voted Best Young Player in the country before playing for Nigeria's U-17s? Was Philip Osondu not playing for Rangers?

You really don’t want to go down the route of photographs. We already have a photograph of the “older” Sterling and the “younger uncle” Kelechi.

Of course I am willing to go down the route of photographs. The photos blow your case out of the water.
Photographic history:

2008


2010


2012


2013




And for those who want to look at more photos, here is his Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelechi- ... tos_stream

[pajimoh]

Chai! Chai! Chai! Diaris age fraud oh!

Oga Ohsee, your post is like an article of faith with the occasional touches of reality.

This is really funny and just shows you have little idea of what is going on in Nigeria. You said CAF catching 3 age cheats alerted Nigerians to mago mago!!!

Do you mean alert the people doing mago mago to their own mago mago???!!! Who do you think is behind presenting old men as kids in Nigeria? a) the old men; b) the coaches; c) the NFF; d) all of the above?

Do you know that when we win youth tournaments with grown azz men everyone is rewarded by the govt? This is the incentive to cheat and to win by any means necessary. It is why we are great in youth tournaments and useless at senior level in terms of the WC. Nobody needs to alert any Nigerian official to mago mago since they are the ones doing it for financial gain.

These are the facts you can't explain away. Fifa mandated the FAs to test ALL players with something that claims to be 99% accurate. We claimed we tested them, yet in a random test 3 failed. I found out that the random tests involve 4 players. So in something that is meant to be 99% accurate, we claim we tested ALL the players, yet 90% failed in a random test of 4! And you want to claim my view is just based on "prior belief"!!!

Ok, alright, odinma, let's just assume this was in the bad old days of 2013!

Random testing in the UAE did not catch any cheat, but only 4 players out of 23 are tested in a test with 99% accuracy! Statisticians in the house, please breakdown the likelihood ratio of there being an overage player, many overage players, and there being no overage players in our squad. I suspect the likelihood of us having many overage players is higher.

Like I said earlier, I'm no expert on MRI scans and would not pretend to be for the purposes of internet debate. But I read somewhere that some research suggests that bone development happens later with sub-Saharan people. Could it explain 20 somethings passing the scan, I don't know. My lay opinion suggests older players have a chance of passing, Nigerian officials have a propensity to cheat, and with random tests only picking 4 out of our 23 man squads, we have a chance of having the majority of our youth teams being overage. So my position is that we are still cheating like there is no tomorrow, despite the steps to stop us.

Nna, I don't know if academies in Naija are filled with overage players. It was you that said our youth teams come from academies and used it as evidence that they are all yoofs. Even 1naija at 68 is called a "youth leader" in Naija. Most of our youth players coming from academies now is just a sign of the times in terms of the game going global. Many people are now involved as agents, spivs, etc and looking to "discover" the next player to sell to a foreign club. So many of these so-called academies have sprung up all over the place. In Kanu's time most of football development was at the mercy of clubs and schools. As most Naija clubs are not well run, the academies have grabbed many of the promising players.

Ol boy, your pics don't help your case oh The bobo looked at least 22 in 2013. I no be expert oh, but see the Boniface , the Adam's apple, etc. I tried to warn you that you don't want to be going down the route of photographic evidence, but you won't listen.

Nna, tell the truth and shame the devil, who should the "uncle" here :

CIC, I've tried to follow this discourse from afar but i believe you're making a grave mistake by comparing the two photos above.

I have seen it countless times children of friends and indeed friends who arrive from Nigeria with a gaunt look and aged. After spending a few months in London, they feel up, they look refreshed and at peace.

Kelechi, am sure, did not have the same upbringing as Sterling. Sterling might not have come from a wealthy family but I can assure you his football schooling at least would include proper diet, less stressful transportation. Good sleeping habit and sleeping materials, relatively safe environment for peace of mind and a healthy glow.

We just take a picture and compare without comparing environmental, psychological and nutritional factors that often contribute to how we look and feel

[Damunk]

Chai! Chai! Chai! Diaris age fraud oh!

Oga Ohsee, your post is like an article of faith with the occasional touches of reality.

This is really funny and just shows you have little idea of what is going on in Nigeria. You said CAF catching 3 age cheats alerted Nigerians to mago mago!!!

Do you mean alert the people doing mago mago to their own mago mago???!!! Who do you think is behind presenting old men as kids in Nigeria? a) the old men; b) the coaches; c) the NFF; d) all of the above?

Do you know that when we win youth tournaments with grown azz men everyone is rewarded by the govt? This is the incentive to cheat and to win by any means necessary. It is why we are great in youth tournaments and useless at senior level in terms of the WC. Nobody needs to alert any Nigerian official to mago mago since they are the ones doing it for financial gain.

These are the facts you can't explain away. Fifa mandated the FAs to test ALL players with something that claims to be 99% accurate. We claimed we tested them, yet in a random test 3 failed. I found out that the random tests involve 4 players. So in something that is meant to be 99% accurate, we claim we tested ALL the players, yet 90% failed in a random test of 4! And you want to claim my view is just based on "prior belief"!!!

Ok, alright, odinma, let's just assume this was in the bad old days of 2013!

Random testing in the UAE did not catch any cheat, but only 4 players out of 23 are tested in a test with 99% accuracy! Statisticians in the house, please breakdown the likelihood ratio of there being an overage player, many overage players, and there being no overage players in our squad. I suspect the likelihood of us having many overage players is higher.

Like I said earlier, I'm no expert on MRI scans and would not pretend to be for the purposes of internet debate. But I read somewhere that some research suggests that bone development happens later with sub-Saharan people. Could it explain 20 somethings passing the scan, I don't know. My lay opinion suggests older players have a chance of passing, Nigerian officials have a propensity to cheat, and with random tests only picking 4 out of our 23 man squads, we have a chance of having the majority of our youth teams being overage. So my position is that we are still cheating like there is no tomorrow, despite the steps to stop us.

Nna, I don't know if academies in Naija are filled with overage players. It was you that said our youth teams come from academies and used it as evidence that they are all yoofs. Even 1naija at 68 is called a "youth leader" in Naija. Most of our youth players coming from academies now is just a sign of the times in terms of the game going global. Many people are now involved as agents, spivs, etc and looking to "discover" the next player to sell to a foreign club. So many of these so-called academies have sprung up all over the place. In Kanu's time most of football development was at the mercy of clubs and schools. As most Naija clubs are not well run, the academies have grabbed many of the promising players.

Ol boy, your pics don't help your case oh The bobo looked at least 22 in 2013. I no be expert oh, but see the Boniface , the Adam's apple, etc. I tried to warn you that you don't want to be going down the route of photographic evidence, but you won't listen.

Nna, tell the truth and shame the devil, who should the "uncle" here :

CIC, I've tried to follow this discourse from afar but i believe you're making a grave mistake by comparing the two photos above.

I have seen it countless times children of friends and indeed friends who arrive from Nigeria with a gaunt look and aged. After spending a few months in London, they feel up, they look refreshed and at peace.

Kelechi, am sure, did not have the same upbringing as Sterling. Sterling might not have come from a wealthy family but I can assure you his football schooling at least would include proper diet, less stressful transportation. Good sleeping habit and sleeping materials, relatively safe environment for peace of mind and a healthy glow.

We just take a picture and compare without comparing environmental, psychological and nutritional factors that often contribute to how we look and feel

And most importantly, genetic factors!

Don't mind CIC. His love for the game or the boy is not in dispute, but CIC nor dey ever 'gree hands up!
I am convinced the boy is the age he says he is. The weight of evidence is not in CIC's favour.

Meanwhile, guys (UK), make we plan waka go Belgium. Then we can see Nacho in the flesh and verify!

[cic old boy]

Pa Jimoh, your argument works both ways. Poor diet can make you not mature normally. Well fed kids brought up in the West can look older than their years.

[Damunk]

Pa Jimoh, your argument works both ways. Poor diet can make you not mature normally. Well fed kids brought up in the West can look older than their years.

CIC, you classic thread of 'Growth v Development' comes to mind.
Western diet in kids here causes them to grow in physical size more than anything else, but their facial features remain youthful....of course allowing for genetic differences. Once upon a time in Naija it was described as 'agriculture' - - physical features found amongst the overgrown kids of the wealthy. It implied though that they were not 'thoroughly cooked' yet.

Our harsh environment removes the little body fat we might have and in local-based athletes it probably is even worse..
Remove facial fat from any human being and you will 'age' him by a good few years.