Cristiano Ronaldo has been around for so long almost too long that some people who came into football late probably don't understand how he was perceived in the early 2000s.
Back then, when you talked about skill, tricks and tricksters, Ronaldinho was probably the first name that came to mind, the next name is Cristiano Ronaldo
In fact, some people genuinely thought Ronaldo was Brazilian.
Some believed he was born in Brazil or had Brazilian roots.
Somehow, people just associated him with Brazil because of the way he played.
Whenever I see some of those old videos being posted today, I just laugh 😂
Because back then, I wasn't even having it.
And it wasn't just me.
Ronaldo was labelled a 'showboater' and an 'individualistic merchant'
Sir Alex Ferguson scolded him and some of his Manchester United teammates constantly demanded that he cut out the unnecessary theatrics.
I remember a Manchester United vs Arsenal FA Cup game when Nani was doing some theatrics, and Arsène Wenger described it as disrespectful to the players.
That was football then.
The fans might clap for you, but managers wouldn't necessarily take you seriously.
Sooner or later, even the fans would start complaining because football was always about more than showboating
That was also what Jay Jay Okocha gave us for years.
We loved the tricks, the nutmegs, the stepovers and the entertainment but eventually, people began asking;
'What does it actually contribute to winning?'
Even in street football, teammates complain when you hold onto the ball too long or try to dribble everyone.
Sometimes, they would rather overlook you because they don't trust you to make the right decision.
Ronaldo eventually matured.
He didn't lose his flair. He learned when to use it.
The showboater became a devastatingly efficient footballer.
The individualistic merchant became one of the greatest players and competitors the game has ever seen.
That evolution is important.
A lot of you came late into the game.
Those same tricks and showboating that many of you now label "pure football" were once the very things people criticised Cristiano Ronaldo for.
The difference is that Ronaldo eventually learned how to turn entertainment into effectiveness.
Just 20 minutes ago, York University, Canada has now reinstated this boy’s admission.
They went through my X account, saw the concerns I raised about WAEC, and concluded that there was an issue with WAEC.
The boy is now happy and will travel to Canada for his education.
“in terms of pure football, Ronaldo is not better than me”
“Ronaldo has no natural talent”
“Ronaldo is just like Haaland”
E no go better for Hazard, Rodri and Okocha 🤡
Spiritual people are often easily noticeable.
It's not in church clothes and spooky vibes,
It's not in the constant "God told me to like this post" comments and remarks.
It's not in the bible quotations at secular meetings and business offices.
It's in willingness to suffer for righteousness sake.
The joy and optimism in the face of hostility.
The meekness and kindness that remain constant despite wicked provocations.
It's in the graciousness towards those who have erred and are in need of restoration.
If you check in the right places, you'll easily spot the spiritual man.
But many people aren't spiritual, so they can't even recognise the spiritual.
What I am hearing about WAEC Nigeria is deeply troubling.
This year recorded the highest performance in the history of WAEC and they are not happy about it.
There is something many Nigerians do not understand about WAEC grading.
The score required for A1, B2, B3, C4 etc. may not simply be a permanently fixed number every year.
From the information available to me, WAEC applies statistical standardisation/normalisation based partly on the overall performance of candidates.
In simple English:
If a paper is unusually difficult and candidates generally perform poorly, the threshold required for a particular grade can effectively be lower.
If candidates perform extraordinarily well, the threshold can become much higher.
So hypothetically, what qualifies as an A in one examination could be around 60, while the statistical threshold in another circumstance could be 80, 90 or even higher.
Your final grade therefore may not tell the complete story of your raw score.
This year involved candidates sitting examinations under different modes, including computer-based/hybrid arrangements and the traditional paper-based system.
And there are serious allegations that questions circulated ahead of time in some paper-based centres.
If that happened on a significant scale, it could artificially inflate the overall performance of that population.
Then comes the critical question:
When WAEC carried out its standardisation, were candidates from fundamentally different examination conditions treated as one population?
Because if leaked questions artificially pushed one group’s scores upwards, and those abnormal scores subsequently influenced grade thresholds, an innocent student who genuinely scored very highly could suddenly appear statistically ordinary.
Imagine scoring what would ordinarily be excellent marks, only to receive a surprisingly poor grade because you were being compared against an abnormal national distribution.
That is the heart of what needs to be investigated.
And it wouldn’t affect only computer-based candidates.
Honest children who wrote paper-based examinations without cheating could also have been punished by the abnormal performance of people who had access to questions.
The innocent students potentially become the victims of the malpractice they never participated in.
This is why WAEC cannot simply tell Nigerians that these children failed.
Show us the data.
What were the raw scores?
What were the score distributions?
What thresholds produced A1, B2, B3, C4, C5 and C6 in each major subject?
Were those thresholds changed after marking?
Were computer-based and paper-based candidates standardised separately?
How were centres showing statistically abnormal performance treated?
And have results changed after candidates requested reviews?
Because I am also receiving disturbing reports that some people who aggressively challenged questionable results got their cases reconsidered, while millions of ordinary parents may not even know they can request a review.
If that is true, it is unacceptable.
A child whose parents have connections cannot have greater access to justice than a child sitting somewhere in a village.
And there is another dimension that must not be ignored: I am receiving serious allegations of internal management problems within WAEC Nigeria, including concerns about how staff who question certain decisions are treated.
Those allegations also deserve an independent investigation.
This is not an attack on WAEC.
It is a demand for accountability.
The Federal Ministry of Education and National Assembly should urgently invite the leadership of WAEC Nigeria.
Because behind every A1, C6 or F9 is not just a statistic.
There is a child. There is a family. There is a university admission. There is a scholarship. There is a future.
We cannot gamble with the destinies of an entire generation of Nigerian children.
Congrats to my friends @Cristiano & Georgina on their
wedding today in Portugal!
They’re a great couple, and I wish them a long and happy marriage together. Parabéns! 👏👏👏👏❤️
Cristiano Ronaldo will retire with a clear conscience. He earned everything he’s won; nothing was ever given to him. The same cannot be said about Lionel Messi.
I hate to say it, but if you think about it - Cristiano Ronaldo is actually a fraud.
This dude had us believing for like 20yrs that Portugal is a big footballing nation like France, Brazil, others.
When in actual fact, before him Portugal had the same stats as Saudi Arabia😭😭