Mutiny: Four military officers quizzed

Strong indications emerged on Wednesday that the military high command had started taking decisive steps against security personnel involved in acts inimical to the military tradition.

It was gathered on Wednesday that four army officers were arrested for allegedly encouraging some soldiers, who disobeyed a directive on posting to Bama, one of the areas where Nigerian troops are fighting   Boko Haram insurgents.

Mutiny is defined as a situation, in which a group of people such as sailors or soldiers refuse to obey orders and try to take control away from their superiors.

The posting was said to have affected mainly the 21 Armoured Brigade Garrison, Maiduguri in Borno State whose men were said to be on standby for redeployment to Bama.

It was learnt on Wednesday that the posting did not go down well with the men of the unit, who were of the view that the garrison should have been a rear party (support unit) rather than being posted to the area of operation.

Investigations further revealed that the soldiers felt that they were being moved out for the men of the division to take over Maiduguri metropolis.

The soldiers in the units were also said to have complained that they were involved in three operations such as the multinational Joint Task Force, the Joint Task Force in Damaturu, Yobe State and the task force in Mubi, Adamawa State. They believed that they should have been addressed collectively before any such deployment.

A source, who confided in one of our correspondents, said the military authorities became alarmed when some of the soldiers decided not to honour the posting. This made the   military high command to   order the arrest of four of the officers of the formation.

It was learnt the commanders of the 21 Armoured Brigade Garrison in Maiduguri, comprising a Lieutenant Colonel , a Captain and two lieutenants, were arrested two weeks ago .

However, after a thorough process of investigation, the military authorities released the four officers after finding them not guilty of the suspicion that they   had a hand in the reluctance of the troops to leave Maiduguri   for Bama.

It was gathered that the Lieutenant Colonel had been posted   to another unit while the other three officers had been deployed to Bama.

Investigations further revealed that the military leadership had arrested several soldiers, who dropped their guns to desert from the Army.

Although, the source did not give a figure, the soldiers were said to have been moved to Abuja to face interrogation.

The source said the arrested soldiers came from different battalions.

It was, however, gathered that the military authorities were also investigating some soldiers of 195 Batalion, Agenebode, Edo State over the attack on Danboa

The Agenebode battalion which is in charge of Danboa is said to be affected by the issue of desertion in the Army.

A security source said that the military authorities were serious about taking decisive steps against misdemeanours in the ongoing efforts to prevent the troops from being discouraged by deserters.

The source stated that the military leadership was determined to ensure that disobedience and cowardice were not condoned because of their grave implications on the success of the counter-terrorist operation.

One of our correspondents made repeated efforts to speak with the Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen Chris Olukolade, without success.

As of 8.37pm on Wednesday, he had not responded to an SMS sent to him.

Cameroonian troops kill 27 B’Haram insurgents

Cameroonian soldiers have   killed 27 members of the Islamist group, Boko Haram, near a border town with Nigeria.

Reuters quoted Cameroon’s state radio on Wednesday, saying the insurgents   crossed the border into Cameroon earlier this week, after attacking a military base and police station in Gamboru Ngala in Borno State.

“Cameroon soldiers have killed 27 Boko Haram elements during an attack in a locality near Fotokol in the far-north,” the state radio, CRTV said,.

It added   that the deaths occurred on Monday and Tuesday. There was no word on any Cameroonian casualties.

A Cameroonian soldier in the region said the militants had been pushed back into Nigeria, with calm returning to the area on Wednesday.

In recent weeks, Boko Haram, which is seeking to carve out a de facto Islamic state in northern Nigeria, has stepped up attacks in Cameroon, leading the central African country to increase deployments along its border with Nigeria..

President Paul Biya dismissed two senior army officers last month following attacks in which at least seven people were killed and the wife of the vice prime minister was kidnapped

Insurgents attempt to blow Nigeria-Cameroon bridge

Meanwhile, the insurgents have attempted blowing up a bridge on the Nigerian border with Cameroon after overrunning a town and sending residents as well as soldiers fleeing.

A Cameroonian police officer stationed in   Fotokol told the Agence France Presse that the militants tried on Tuesday to destroy the bridge, which leads to Gamboru Ngala in Borno State.

Three children were reportedly injured by flying shrapnel when explosives were detonated, possibly by firing from the Cameroonian side of the border on Monday.

Dora gave up American Green Card for Nigerian Diplomatic Passport – Chike Akunyili, widower @sunnewsnigeria

Dr. Chike Akunyili, husband of the late Dora Akunyili, has described his wife, as an accomplished Ni­gerian whose good deeds speak for her.

In explaining the preparation for his wife’s burial, Akunyili stated that people were calling in from across the world to identify with the deceased, owing to what she did for Nigeria and humanity. In this interview, he talked about his wife and others.

We want to know how far you have gone with the arrangements for the burial of your wife, Prof. Dora Akunyili?

We have gone far with the arrangement because Dora, you know, was a very thorough person, very painstaking person and we have arranged sitting positions; you can see even the state government is concerned, even the Federal Government; they are concerned. Many Nigerians, many people, keep phoning in, even from America, everywhere and it is very interesting to know that good name is really better than riches.

Dora has died but you can see her name is flying very high because of what she did for Nigeria, the immensity of her love for the country is very touching. And when I look back to see that there was a time she was going to America and they saw she had a diplomatic passport and they said, ‘Madam, you have a green card and the same time a diplomatic passport, you must give up one; immediately, she didn’t waste time, she dropped her American Green card for Nigerian Diplomatic Passport and she had no qualms about that. She said she wouldn’t trade in Nigeria for anything and that was how she gave up her green card. So, I’ve now seen, that love for her country people are concerned. Many people are coming, wanting to know what they would do, you can see the chairman of the local government, town union; our former governor has been very active; the present governor has been very active, their wives, everybody, members of the House, everybody is involved; they want to know what to do. Even from Aso Rock, our dear lovely president, Goodluck Jonathan, and everybody is showing immense concern. Also, different governors, Rochas Okorocha, other governors, everybody is concerned, wanting to make sure Dora is given a very befitting burial.

What were her last outings like and developments after her demise? 

I thank her. I thank her for what she did for Nigeria, her love for this country, very immense, very great. I thank God that I followed her to the Confab because many people dissuaded her from going but Dora said ‘‘Daddy, anything that concerns Nigeria burns in me. My heart burns with anything Nigeria, that I will go to the Confab.’’ Thank God, at the Confab, you saw the speech she made; it resonated at the four walls of the Confab and there was a very big ovation after she spoke. See what she said: ‘‘I leave you with this Greek proverb: ‘A country is great when its old men plant trees, which shade they know they will never enjoy.’”

Telling Nigerians that we must care for our future generation, we must care for our youths, we must think about them, we must plant trees that will shade them; we must make a better environment for them, Dora is just simply awesome. Since she died, every arrangement has been smooth-sailing. If I want to see somebody in my mind, the next moment, I will see that person and there have been many instances of that. How the thing happens, I do not know. Like, I came into my house and I said oh, I will paint this place because it is dirty but how do I see my painter, Mr. Ugwu? I haven’t seen him for a long time. Do you know, two people came in and one of them was Mr. Ugwu. How do you explain it?

Our lovely Bishop Hillary Okeke will come to say the evening mass; that’s the wake keep mass here. I said okay, I don’t have a table, I need to construct a very good table but where do I see Patrick Obiora, a very good cabinet maker, I haven’t seen him for years, he may be somewhere in Kaduna. I was just pondering about this and my phone rang, I picked it and it was Patrick Obiorah that was calling. The other time I came in, I didn’t have any money. I told my son, look, I need some Naira so that I can go back to Enugu. He said never mind. While I was saying that, my phone rang; it was this lovely lady, Iyom Josephine Anenih. She asked: ‘Chike, where are you? I said I was in Abuja. She said: ‘Look, I have some money that belongs to Dora, do I come and drop it with you?’

There have been many instances like that since she died, whoever has the explanation to these things, let the person come and tell me. All I know is that her spirit is happy with everything going on, in everything we are doing… If I want to see a particular Bishop, the next moment, that Bishop will call. Whenever I go to the Anglican Church, there is a song I normally hear, nani olu anyi luru ka ageji na elota anyi, meaning that we will be remembered for the work we did; now that song has a lot of meaning to me, from what Dora has done. Whatever you do, good name is better than riches. People thought that she was stupid when she returned money during the PTF time, but you can see that the deed opened many doors.

Dora would always tell you the truth no matter what; she would never lie to you. Even at the time when we went to India, at a time she said, ‘daddy, give me that medicine you used to give me,’ and I said, ‘you know, in India, I am not a doctor, I am a husband to a patient, I shouldn’t give you anything.’ She said, ‘no give me;’ so I gave her the tablet and she calmed. Do you know in the morning when doctors came on ward round, after the ward round, she said ‘oh, I forgot, my husband gave me a tablet last night o.’ I said, ‘mummy, why should you tell them that,’ she said: ‘do you want me to lie? I have to tell them the truth.’ This will tell you the extent she could go to say the truth. She believed in saying the truth. She knew that when you had good leaders, the country would be good, and she started that programme of ‘Good People, Great Nation.’ Now, we are playing with that slogan but do you know when we were in India, we saw many billboards with the same logo, “Good People, Great Nation.” If you analyse that statement, it is very punchy, if we are all good, this nation will be great.

What would you say about Nigerians’ concern over her death? 

It has been great. When we landed at the airport, the outpouring of love and emotion made me to contain my grief. When we landed at the tarmac, I saw Peter Obi. I was touched. I said, ‘our Excellency, you came and saw us in India and now you are here at the tarmac. I didn’t tell you we were coming back.’ He said, ‘do you know for eight years I was governor of Anambra, Dora was the only one, who would look you in the eyes and tell you, governor, this is wrong, Your Excellency, this is bad, stop doing this one. She had the courage to tell you the truth; others would come and say you are wonderful, even if you shit in the street but Dora would tell you the truth.’ He promised to play every role in her burial.

We must have courage to say the truth and show love to our fellow men and love of God. Dora would always see God in everybody and she is very prayerful. So, I thank God for her life.

Knowing what she stood for, is there anything the family is doing to keep the fire burning? 

There is already a Dora Foundation to fight fake drugs and they have already started doing something in Bayelsa State. We hope to reenergise it, reinvigorate it and even do more for Dora. Dora is just like an enigma. If you go to Igbinedion University, their Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences is named after Professor Dora Akunyili, and the biggest hostel in that school too is named after Dora. If you come to Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, the biggest female hostel there is named after Dora Akunyili. Even the Women Development Centre in Abuja, their hall is named after Dora Akunyili. We hope that many more people will come to realise her importance. This is somebody who did not spare anything to show her love for this country and she was ready to really sacrifice her life to show her love for this country. So, whatever people do to immortalise her is very good. On our own part, we are going to do whatever is possible and follow up on the ones she initiated, including Paul and Grace Foundation, which she used to carter for the poor in Enugu.

If you recalled, before you married her, did you see some of these her traits? 

When I married her, I just saw her as very intelligent. Do you know how I met her for the first time? It was through this same act of kindness. I was sick and she came for a vacation job at the UNTH, and they told us that Pharmacists were naughty and nasty, and if you go to beg for drugs they would insult you. I went in and I just told her: ‘Please, I am not well; I have malaria. Can you give me some drugs?’

Oh, she was very kind, very wonderful and I called her out and told her that people used to give us wrong impression about pharmacists but that she was different. She smiled and we started chatting. By the time I told her my name, she shrugged and asked if I was in anyway related to Akunyili Josephine? I said yes. She said Josephine was her college mother. She asked where Josephine was and I told her she was in Coal Camp (Enugu).

The next day, she went to Coal Camp,            and instead of seeing Josephine, she saw my dad. That was the only day my father didn’t go to the market. My father chatted with her and phoned me to say she saw a girl, who was wonderful and had all the qualities in this world. He stated that although I was still in the university, I could marry this girl and my future would be great. He did not know we had met. I said okay, that he should invite her again. That day, I came and Dora came. My father asked about my impression. To marry her took only three weeks. And everything that my father predicted came to pass. Until my father died, we allowed him to enjoy the illusion that he was the one that saw Dorothy for me. He never knew we had met before and two of us kept that secret from him.

You need to see Dorothy and my dad or Dorothy and my mum. They would laugh from inside the heart; they loved her so much and she was loved by many people. Don’t you see the whole Nigeria? In the North, people call her sister. In the South, in the West, everywhere it’s the same.

She is a bridge builder. She had friends all over the country. I wish many Nigerians would be like that. Nigeria would be a great country. Dora is a darling to northerners, southerners, easterners, once you are a human being and a Nigerian, Dora would love you. She didn’t believe in cleavage lines and division between the rich and the poor.

In our house, there is one gateman, Ejike. Dora noticed a lot of intelligence in this guy and she employed him as house cleaner. From being the house cleaner, Ejike became the cook, and from being the cook, Dora trained him to university level. And today, Ejike is an accountant in NAFDAC. He is in charge of Owerri zone. And he still comes every weekend to the house.

Dora had done that to a many people; she has inspired many people and trained many people. Dora was just like an elephant. I don’t know where to stop. I can talk about Dora for the next four hours, not to talk of what she had done for many churches. Once anything pertained to God, she didn’t look back; she could give you even her last kobo, once it is something about God.

Finally, how has it been since after her death? 

It hasn’t been easy; you saw me crying when former Governor Obi’s wife, Mrs. Margaret Obi, came. Once I see people, who are intimate with her… It will take me time to get over Dora. Dora was a professor but when she passed food for me, she would hold water for me to wash my hands.

I would tell her to allow another person do that but she would say, ‘no; I was Chike’s wife before becoming a professor.’ If you came to our house and Dora was at home, nobody would tell you because everybody would be happy. She has a pet name for everybody.

10 things you didn't know about Manchester United's newest star

James Wilson has burst onto the Manchester United scene in quite some fashion. Two goals and a man of the match display capped a dream debut for the 18 year old.

When Ryan Giggs selected the England Under-19 international to make his first senior bow for the Red Devils against Hull City it raised more than one or two eyebrows. Now people are instead questioning who James Wilson is and why people did not recognise his prestigious talent sooner.

Sportsmail takes a look at some of the things you may not necessarily know about James Wilson.

1. Only last month he went back to his old school Biddulph High to play in a staff and students match in a charity match, to raise money for Sports Relief, against the local police. The match was refereed by Premier League referee Phil Dowd.

2. He has stolen the show before when the occasion was not about him. Wilson scored a hat-trick against Wolves this March but the Wolves fans had flocked to the Molineux to see the return of Jamie O’Hara in his first game back since returning from Los Angeles with a season high crowd of 572 fans.

3. After scoring the winner Charlton at Old Trafford in an FA Youth Cup quarter-final in 2012, which Wilson struck seven minutes into injury time, he scolded himself in the shower, whilst his teammates refused to use the showers due to the boiling hot water. Wilson insisted that he didn’t care because he was full of adrenaline.

4. James Wilson is already well prepared for next season’s pre-season tour to America should he be selected to travel with the first team squad. He played for Manchester United's Under-18 side there in a tournament known as the Dallas Cup last year. He scored two goals in his opening game against Club America, one of the goals was set up by Adnan Januzaj.

5. Wilson was only told about his first ever selection on the bench for the Man United first team when media manager Karen Shotbolt handed him the team sheet. His name instantly started trending on twitter with Manchester United fans as soon as the news was revealed.

6. Wilson, before his debut against Hull, said that his career highlight was training with Nemanja Vidic and Tom Cleverly at St James’s Park and admitted to feeling nervous just training with these stars. Vidic spent time with him one on one focusing on short and sharp passes. 

7. James Wilson was spotted by Manchester United when he was scoring goals for fun for Biddulph under-9s as a 7 year old. They invited him to train after only watching him the once and he was already in the Manchester United youth team when he was a Year 7 pupil at Park Middle School, Knypersley.

8. He nearly went on an emergency loan to Burnley in March. Sean Dyche approached Wilson after the striker had scored a hat-trick against the Burnley youth team, with a view to a move which the United centre forward turned down.

10 Things You Need to Know About Ozil

his was a truly unforgettable summer transfer window for everyone connected with Arsenal football club. It all started when the club’s chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, blew his trumpet about how the team had the financial capabilities to compete with the creme de la creme of European football but Arsenal fans watched in disgust as transfer targets like Stevan Jovetic and Gonzalo Higuain slipped past their grasps to join new employers. Then there was the failed pursuit of Luis Suarez, a protracted saga that ended in anguish as well.
Prior to yesterday’s transfer deadline day, the Gunners had signed Yaya Sanogo and Mathieu Flamini for free.
The Aston Villa debacle happened and the fans went berserk as they used various social media to voice their frustrations but Arsene Wenger steadied the ship on his team picked a rich run of form, winning Fulham, Fenerbahce on two occasions and the old enemy, Tottenham Hotspurs, despite their multi-million pound squad.
Yesterday, Arsenal shocked the football world as they smashed their transfer record to swoop for Real Madrid’s Mesut Ozil, who underwent the second part of his medical in Munich on Monday after agreeing personal terms with the club. The German is set to become Arsenal’s highest earner with a salary of £130,000-per-week that runs till 2018.
Arsenal fans (me included) went haywire on various social media as they are basking in the euphoria of seeing the club smash their transfer record to sign a top, top, top, top…top quality player.
Without further ado, here are 10 things you need to know about Arsenal’s new acquisition.
He’s the Most Creative Force in European Football
Courtesy of Mesut Ozil’s official site, the 24-year-old German has played 353 football games, made 12,647 passes (85 percent passing completion percentage), scored 59 goals and most importantly, he has created a whooping 144 assists. The table below shows a more detailed breakdown on Ozil’s amazing stats.

	Games	Passes	Pass Completion Percentage	Goals	Assists
Bundesliga (Schalke and Bremen)	101	2,937	83%	13	31
German National Team	47	2,597	88%	14	24
Champions League	41	1,787	86%	4	17
Real Madrid	159	6,832	85%	27	72

In the last three seasons, Ozil has amassed an amazing haul of 94 assists for both club and country. Arsenal’s primary creator-in-chief in the yesteryear, Cesc Fabregas, has managed 49 assists for Barcelona and Spain in the same timeframe. The players that follow Ozil in the assists charts for both club and country in the past three seasons are Lionel Messi (80), Juan Mata (66), Franck Ribery (55) and Eden Hazard (52).
In Ozil, Arsenal has acquired arguably the most creative player in the world at the moment.

His Technique on the Ball is Exquisite
Ardent followers of European football can attest to the fact that Mesut Ozil is a joy to watch when he’s on the pitch. Despite the fact that he was playing under the shadow of the almighty Cristiano Ronaldo in his Real Madrid days, Ozil showed off his quality on a consistent basis with his excellent control on the ball, eagle-eyed vision and those goals that came in handy from time to time.
Ozil also posed a threat from distance as he possessed a powerful shot, he’s a very skillful player and his flamboyance is unrivaled.
Ozil is widely recognized in the football world and has often been compared to other leading football technicians like Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo.

He has Turkish Roots
You don’t even need to speak or learn German to know that Mesut Ozil isn’t a name from that nation. He’s is a a third-generation Turkish-German, of Kurdish descent and he was born in the old Ruhr mining town of Gelsenkirchen where he spent his formative years at Schalke 04. His father, Mustafa Ozil, moved to Germany at the age of two and his ancestors are from a town in Northern Turkey called Devrek.
Devrek is a town in the Zonguldak province in the Black Sea region of Turkey.  Pine, oak, fir,beech, elm, chestnut, and lime trees are found throughout the forests around Devrek. The town’s weather is cool during the summer and warm and rainy during the winter season.
Besides, the Ozils, the town can also boast about Dr. Salim Yilmaz, a space station inventor.

His Comparison with Diego in his Werden Bremen Days
Diego Ribas da Cunha is a Brazilian attacking midfielder that has plied his trade in major European clubs before settling down in VFL Wolfsburg. After breaking out from the Santos setup in 2002, Diego arrived at FC Porto as the touted successor to Barcelona-bound Champions League winner, Deco, but he failed to live up to the hype.
He was offered some solace in Werder Bremen and he played some of his best football in the German club, guiding them to the DFB Pokal in 2009. After offering his best years to Werden Bremen, he departed for Juventus with a big-money move but the Brazilian struggled in Delle Alpi and was shipped to Wolfsburg where he has been ever since, but he went on loan to Atletico Madrid last season.
Mesut Ozil arrived in Bremen following a fallout with the Schalke management, and he was fondly called “der Neue Diego” (the next Diego) after his Brazilian predecessor. Like Diego, Ozil predominantly played behind the striker, was also a flamboyant player for Bremen and his impact at Bremen was immediate.
After initially being charged with the task of filling the void left by Brazilian playmaker Diego, Ozil made his own name by scoring the winning goal in Bremen’s DFB-Pokal cup triumph and helping the side reach the final of the last ever Uefa Cup, which they lost to Shakhtar Donetsk.

He’s a Core Player for the German National Team
Ozil was chanced with the opportunity to play for Turkey and Germany but he chose the latter and represented the nation at junior levels before his debut against Norwich in February 2009.
On the international scene, Ozil rose to prominence following some breathtaking performances in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He was a standout performer in the Group Stages as the Germans topped their group and braced themselves for a Second Round showdown with Fabio Capello’s England. Even if the game might be remembered for that Frank Lampard attempt on goal that passed the line, German ran riot past the Three Lions and Ozil even set up Thomas Mueller to put the game beyond doubt.
Ozil also created an assist for Miroslav Klose in the 4-0 drubbing of Argentina and he was shortlisted for the FIFA World Cup MVP award that was eventually won by Uruguay’s Diego Forlan. Following a victory over Uruguay, Ozil earned a bronze medal, which was his second piece of international silverware, as he was part of the Germany Under-21 squad that won the 2009 Under-21 Euros.
Ozil showcased his creativity in Germany’s run to Euro 2012, supplying seven assists to his teammates, which made him the most creative player in the qualifiers. In the tournament, Ozil was part of the German squad that qualified from the Group of Death, as they were drawn with Holland, Portugal and Denmark but their run was halted abruptly in the semifinals courtesy of the Mario Balotelli show for Italy.
Ozil is a vital cog in the German midfield engine and he will be odds on to feature at the 2014 FIFA World Cup that comes next summer.
Real Madrid Won Every Game Ozil Managed to Score
This is a pretty interesting stat, as Ozil isn’t really known to score goals.
He prefers to create chances for the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo or Karim Benzema to score but every time he managed to get on the score sheet, Real Madrid ended up winning the game. In his debut campaign with Real Madrid, Ozil scored 10 goals and repeated the same goal haul in his third season with the club.
He notched up a total of 27 goals for the Spanish giants and they won every game he was on the score sheet.
You Can Follow him on Twitter
Twitter is a very powerful social networking platform that has connected so many people with others with the same interests. Footballers also use this platform to interact with their fans giving them info on their activities and what have you.
Arsenal has its fair share of tweeps in the form of Jack Wilshere, Aaon Ramsey, Bacary Sagna, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Olivier Giroud, Santi Cazorla, Lukas Podolski and a host of others.
Mesut Ozil has a strong presence on Twitter with over three million followers thus far. You can follow him on Twitter @MesutOzil1088
Click on the link to follow Arsenal’s new boy and don’t forget to follow @goonerdaily while you’re at it.
He’s a Devout Muslim
Like Newcastle’s Papiss Cisse and Hatem Ben Arfa, Mesut Ozil is part of the Muslim community and he recites Qur’an verses before all his matches to help him focus,

“I always do that before I go out (on the pitch). I pray and my team-mates know that they cannot talk to me during this brief period.”

Ozil also fasts during the Ramadan period as well.
Arsene Wenger Rates him Highly
Following the capture of a major superstar like Ozil, it was expected that his manager was going to air his views on his new recruit,

“I have said throughout the summer that we have been working hard to bring in top quality players to this football club. This has involved many many people across the Club and I have always had the full support of the Club in making decisions on the football side.
“Mesut is a top quality footballer who will be a fantastic addition to our talented squad. We are all looking forward to him joining up with us after his international matches with Germany and working with us as an Arsenal player.”

He Will Fit Perfectly in Arsenal Style of Play
Arsenal has its fair share of creative midfielders in the forms of Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky and Aaron Ramsey but with Ozil spraying passes like hot knife through butter, both Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott should see their goal haul rise to astronomical levels.
With Lukas Podolski and the Ox out injured, it seems more than likely that Cazorla would continue playing from the left hand side of attack to support Giroud and Walcott. Ramsey is rapidly becoming an indispensable player for the team and with Wilshere’s fitness still being a concern, Arsenal can count on Mathieu Flamini to deputize in his stead.
However, the arrival of a mega-signing like Ozil could signal the end for Rosicky, as Wenger would favor playing Ozil behind Giroud, where he’s most potent. Arsenal’s fluid intricate passing play would make Ozil blend into the team quickly and he won’t have problems adapting to the Premier League as well, with his compatriots, Per Mertesacker and Podolski will be willing to make him feel at home.
To wet your appetites on what Ozil has to offer, please feast your eyes on this YouTube compilation.

Conclusion
Yes, the fans cried out for a new center back but Arsene Wenger remoulded Bacary Sagna to a fine center back and his performances alongside Mertesacker are as good you would ever see from a more recognized center back.
The fans cried out for a marquee defensive midfielder and names like Marouane Fellaini, Luiz Gustavo, Etienne Capoue, Asier Illarramendi and Lars Bender popped up more times than the amount of gum Sir Alex Ferguson has ever chewed. The manager rolled back the years to sign the combative and tenacious Mathieu Flamini that put up a great show against Tottenham.
The fans cried out for a certain Julio Cesar to challenge Wojciech Szczesny, but the Gunners loaned Palermo’s Emiliano Viviano, Italy’s current No. 2 goalie behind the legendary Gianluigi Buffon.
The fans cried out for a center forward to support Giroud, but Wenger still harbors some hopes of playing Nicklas Bendtner, is he throws his inflated ego out the window and brings his head down.
In all honesty, I would never have imagined that a thrifty club like Arsenal would be willing to spend £42.4m on a player but the signing of Ozil will be the lift that the players need to go all the way this season. His arrival will be a massive signing for the Gunners – this is a game changing move from Arsene Wenger.
When you play against G-irOuD, oZIL and cazor-LA, better be scared because together they form GODZILLA
Welcome m-OZIL-la firefox.

Arsenal Fan: 10 Things I Miss About Highbury

1) The Mystery of the Horse’s Skeleton at the Laundry End
As a kid I’d heard the rumours of a horse being buried when they were building the foundations of the original North Bank in 1913, then known as the Laundry End. That a horse and cart that had fallen into the rubble and that the unfortunate creature had to be put down.
I’d also heard that when they rebuilt the North Bank in 1993 they failed to find any remains and was disappointed to think that the tale simply did not occur. I remember a mate sitting on his shiny new seat in the North Bank the first day they opened it as an all seater stand and wondering out loud whether he was sitting near “that horse”. It got a round of hearty laughter from the fans around us who knew exactly what he was talking about.  It was about the only highlight of that day as a certain Mickey Quinn of Coventry City scored as unlikely a hat-trick as you will ever see as the Sky Blues tonked us 3-0 on the first day of the 1992/92 season.
I had forgotten all about the horse until our move from Highbury which necessitated further digging at the beloved old ground, as it turned into the Highbury Square residential development.
Would you believe it, far below the surface workmen found two horseshoes alongside the remains of some timber, believed to be the cart. The story was true. My ten year old self was delighted. To be fair my thirty-something self was pretty pleased too, when I heard the news confirming such a romantic story in our long history had been confirmed.
As far as I know the horse shoes have been put in the Arsenal museum  – not that they’ve brought much luck in the way of trophies just yet….
2) The Schoolboys Enclosure
This piece of hallowed concrete, which was effectively the lower tier of the East Stand was a rite of passage for all young Gunners of a certain vintage. When I first started going it was 75p entrance into the shallow terracing. No-one could call themselves a true Arsenal fan unless they stood here as a youngster, up until they put seats there in the early nineties as the ground dutifully complied with the Taylor Report.
If you know someone who claims to be a life-long Arsenal fan that is approaching middle age, ask them if they ever stood on the Schoolboys Enclosure. If they did then chances are you’re talking to a bona-fide gooner.
Nick Hornby recalls being terrified there as a kid, and having his scarf nicked. When I started going in the early 80s I seem to recall it was a bear pit full of streetwise Islington rascals. It says something that I was actually glad to graduate to the Clock End, and onto a whole new set of ruffians…
3) The Peanut Man
What passes for food at Arsenal these days? Genuine Handcrafted Pies made by machine at a fiver a pop? Nachos? Arsenal goujons?
That’s not proper football fayre.
No-one who stood at Highbury can forget the Peanut Man.
Incidentally the first time a good mate saw a picture of Stefan Swartz advertising ‘Arsenal goujons’ at the food counters in that cramped alleyway that passed for the entrance, exit and passageway in the Clock End he asked in all seriousness ‘What the f*ck is a goo-john?’ To me I still date his question as the first sign of the gentrification of Arsenal.
The Peanut Man did what it said on the tin. Or his brown paper sack of peanuts at any rate. He sold Peanuts. But he didn’t wait for you to come to him. He came to you. Via the terraces. He was in effect offering a delivery service for monkey nuts. I always thought he must have been a contortionist the way he weaved effortlessly through huge crowds.
It always felt like the larger the crowd the more you would see him on his circuit of the ground. I remember one game against Man Utd we actually scored when he was selling peanuts (in their shells of course) to a bloke behind me. Despite the mayhem – and me and many others inadvertently crushing up against him – he not only kept hold of his bag of nuts but actually gave the right change to the man who was by now insensible with joy: and managed to utter his immortal words, “peanuts, peanuts, cola”.
Even writing those words brought me back to a time before pubs stayed open all day, and if you didn’t meet your friends at a time and place you had agreed on you wouldn’t see them again as there was no chance of getting in touch in this distant per-mobile phone era…

4) Queuing at the Clock End turnstiles for big match tickets.
This may not seem like a memory to those who buy their tickets over the internet these days. But believe it or not kids, for FA Cup Final replays, and FA Cup Semi’s, not to mention big away cup games where we had a large allocation, you had to take your place – invariably at the top of Highbury Hill as the queue was already huge – and wait patiently to pass through the turnstiles. As you did you would have to chance to buy a ticket for the particular game that you wanted to go to (cash only mind).
The worst was when the powers that be decreed that tickets would go on sale for a predetermined game after the final whistle of a game that was actually taking place at the time. I recall as a kid waiting in a drunken crowd of big blokes who were all straining to hear on Avenell Road what exactly was going on at the game we had paid to see. It was like some surreal Kafka-esque experiment.
I went after school once to get tickets for a semi and had my new sports “Head” bag trampled in the melee, then ripped to piece by the wrought iron turnstile it had got trapped in.
It was worth it. I had just bought myself a ticket for Tottenham v Arsenal, Littlewoods Cup Semi Final replay at the Lane , 4^th March, 1987.
5) The Marble Halls
If you ask any football fan to name something about Highbury chances are that they would mention the Marble Halls. All Arsenal fans were proud of this fact.
They used to sell tickets at the counters inside under the brass metal railway plate so you were able to enter this hallowed area if you had a good enough excuse back in the day.
I loved the way your school shoes would echo to the solid stone when you walked over it. I always made sure I cleaned them if I knew I had to pop up after school to Arsenal to get tickets or transport for some away game or other.
There always used to be a gaggle of touts outside on non-match days if there was a big game approaching. Eyes darting and speaking out of the side of their mouths like all touts used to do they would pull big rolls of extremely used tenners from their pockets, and ask kids to go in and buy some tickets for them.
As a serious child who knew even then that talking out of the side of your mouth was a Bad Thing I never trusted them. (That fact holds true even today. And I’d still like to have a quiet word with the one who sold me a nicked ticket for a ton for Chelsea away in the Champions League in 2004).
My mates were far less fastidious. They used to get a quid a ticket if they followed the touts orders. When one tried to undercut the rest by offering 50p per ticket, it prompted less than the normal efficient response from my pal when lying to those behind the counter. “Are they for the touts outside”, a terrifying club stalwart of the Travel Club asked us. As he was losing 50p a ticket on the deal my unmotivated mate simply replied yes. “F*ck ‘em then”, this Arsenal administrative legend who is still at the club replied.
I have also seen with my own eyes an Arsenal player (who shall remain nameless) brazenly hand over a wad of tickets to a well-known tout who in turn gave him a brick of fivers. I suppose it’s marginally more honest than lying on a casino floor with 50 quid notes plastered all over you, which is what certain players of certain teams do these days.
The amount of dodgy dealing that used to go on there – and in front of those immaculate Commissionaires resplendent in their starched uniforms too.
6) The Arsenal Locomotive Nameplate
I always thought that the art deco style of the famous marble halls was complemented even more by the most random item. Hands up who remembers the curved Arsenal Locomotive Nameplate with the small football underneath?
LNER, in 1936 rolled out a new class of engine. To publicise the feat they decided to name them after various football clubs. As befitting Arsenal’s status as the most well-known football club in England – some would say the world at the time, the first train off the production line was named Arsenal. On March 15 Lord Lonsdale, the Chairman of the club, unveiled the nameplate at Kings Cross station, and the engine stayed in service until it was withdrawn in 1958, upon which the nameplate was presented to the club and hung in the Marble Halls sometime after.
For those with literal trainspotting tendencies the Arsenal number was 2848. (Other prominent numbers included Leeds United 2856 and Manchester United 2862. Did I really just write that sentence?)
7) The Bloke Who Shouted “Come on you Rip-Roaring Reds” every time the game went quiet late in the second half.
I wasn’t sure if he was certifiably insane, mentally ill or just p*ssed. Either way it formed the soundtrack to my youth.
8) The advertising sign on the East Stand that read “JVC and Arsenal – The Perfect Match”
The power of marketing on impressionable minds. For years I only ever bought JVC branded electrical goods. More to the point I never drank Holsten Pils.
9) The “Make Money” women.
Arsenal’s first venture into commercialism. Women selling raffle tickets as they walked round the cinder track before games and at half time. I’m sure one prize once was a “tray of meat”. Who says the eighties wasn’t a simpler age?
10) Shouting “We’re the North Bank/We’re the Clock End/ Highbury” to each other at loud volumes.
People who talk about the “positive Matchday experience” at Arsenal these days don’t remember that going to Highbury simply used to be fun.
There is a Clock End at Ashburton Grove but that’s all it is.
An end with a Clock.
It’s not even the original.
When I sit on my padded Season Ticket seat in the silent new ground that I insist on calling the Grove, watching the latest day-tripper devour a box of Arsenal goujons, a bag full of overpriced club shop tat at their side, whilst they prod me, and demand a photo of them gurning inanely during the game with their backs to the pitch, unable to name half the current team, let alone the three statues outside – I think back to the days of supporting The Arsenal at Highbury.
And die a little death at the loss of that glorious old place.
And one thing I don’t miss….
Millwall and West Ham United always taking the North Bank
As a kid I’d always start to get worried when I came out of Arsenal tube and saw huge mobs of shifty looking blokes in the latest sports casual gear I’d never seen before, desperately trying to look inconspicuous while they walked up to the turnstiles. It never worked but I must admit as I queued for the schoolboys enclosure I would let out a sigh of relief that when it did kick off I would be able to watch it from the relative safety of the lower corner of the East Stand.
The day the ICF let off a smoke bomb at the front of the North Bank was a particular low, as were the 12,000 Lions fans who came to N5, in the infamous FA Cup game of 1987 – all of whom seemed intent on taking a piece of Highbury back to South East London with them.