Entertainment news

Boniface: Man who turned ‘Neverkusen’ to Leverkusen – Punch Newspapers

Beer flowed, Nigerian hip-hop stole the show in Germany after Leverkusen’s first-ever Bundesliga triumph last Sunday. One man that played a key role in transforming the Germans from nearly men to champions is Akure-born Victor Boniface, writes PETER AKINBO

In the illustrious history of German football, Bayer Leverkusen are associated with the infamous moniker ‘Neverkusen’ due to their penchant for coming agonisingly close but falling short of major titles.

A typical example from the Nigerian point of view is Karibe Ojigwe, who joined Die Werkself from fellow Bundesliga side Kaiserslautern in 2000.

Before the Aba-born midfielder switched clubs, Leverkusen had only managed one major title — DFB-Pokal in 1993 — in their then 96-year history.

Ojigwe, a part of Kaiserslautern’s Bundesliga winning side in the 1997/98 season, was hopeful his move to Leverkusen would turn things around and enrich his trophy cabinet.

And with a squad that had the likes of U-17 World Cup winner Ojigwe, German midfield enforcer Michael Ballack, Bernd Schneider, Lucio, Robert Kovac, Carsten Ramelow, Ze Roberto, Oliver Neuville among other top class players, it looked Leverkusen’s fortunes would take a turn for the better at the turn of the century.

But that was not to be. Ojigwe and his teammates ended the 2000/01 season painfully as runners-up in the UEFA Champions League, Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal.

And ‘Neverkusen’ endured another 22 years of an agonising wait for a first Bundesliga title, until Nigerian striker Victor Boniface burst onto the scene from Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise to lead the Germans to glory land.

Boniface emerged as a catalyst that transformed the narrative, propelling Leverkusen to unprecedented success and etching his name in the annals of Germany’s football history.

Boniface immediately, alongside teammates, reshaped the destiny of Leverkusen, transforming them from perennial nearly-men to Bundesliga champions.

And his amazing journey to football stardom is a testament to the power of resilience and determination.

Born in Akure, Boniface’s introduction to the beautiful game began in the dusty streets of the Ondo State capital.

Raised in a military barracks by his grandparents, the disciplined upbringing instilled in him values of perseverance and hard work.

It was within this environment that his passion for football blossomed, catching the attention of talent scouts during his formative years at the Real Sapphire Academy in Lagos.

Despite exhibiting prodigious talent on the pitch, Boniface’s journey was marred by personal tragedy. The untimely loss of his mother in a tragic accident cast a shadow over his aspirations, leaving him grappling with grief and uncertainty.

“I stopped paying attention to my diet and started partying,” he said.

“I was not even a drinker before then but I started drinking just to feel something. I was depressed and didn’t even realise it.”

Moreover, a series of debilitating injuries, including two anterior cruciate ligament tears, threatened to derail his dreams of footballing stardom.

However, rather than succumb to despair, Boniface found solace in the game, channeling his pain into a relentless pursuit of excellence.

And his odyssey to Europe marked a pivotal chapter in his football story. Joining Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in 2019, he quickly established himself as a force to reckon with, playing an instrumental role in the club’s unprecedented success.

Under the bright lights of the Eliteserien, Boniface flourished, helping Bodo/Glimt secure back-to-back league titles and garnering widespread acclaim for his electrifying performances.

Their 2020 triumph, in Boniface’s debut season, was the first time the club had ever finished top of the pile in Norway.

A brief sojourn in Belgium followed when he joined Union Saint-Gilloise, where he continued to showcase his talents on the European stage, claiming the Europa League top scorer award for the 2022/23 season.

He also came close to winning the Belgian league title, with the club finishing second in the Pro League, behind champions Genk only on goal difference.

It would have been the club’s first title since 1935.

Boniface netted 15 times during that season, drawing praise for his performances, as well as six goals in the Europa League as Union reached the quarter-finals where they lost to Leverkusen although the Nigeria international found the back of the net once in the two-legged tie.

Entertainment news

President Mnangagwa arrives at the Zimbabwe Military Academy – Chronicle

President Mnangagwa arrives at the Zimbabwe Military Academy

Patrick Chitumba, Online Reporter

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has arrived at the Zimbabwe Military Academy in Gweru to preside over the commissioning parade of the Regular Officer Cadet Course 3/39/22.

The President is the Commander In Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.

He was met by Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, Midlands Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Owen Ncube and Service Chiefs.

A total 182 Regular Officer Cadets will be commissioned at the event after completing 21 months of training at the ZMA Academy in Gweru. Of those to be commissioned, 44 are females, while 138 are males.

The Zimbabwe Military Academy has a rich history dating back over a century. Originally, the camp served as both a training ground for various military personnel and a supply depot.

Throughout the years, the academy underwent name changes that aligned with camp’s evolving tasks and the political context of each era.

In 2010, the Academy achieved associate status with the Midlands State University (MSU), leading to the establishment of the Diploma in Military Training and Education program.

The Academy has made significant strides in broadening it’s scope and vision. A crucial milestone was achieved in 2024 when the Cadet Wing transformed into a division, enabling the academy to provide degree programs to cadets.

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Some scientists can’t stop using AI to write research papers – The Register

Linguistic and statistical analyses of scientific articles suggest that generative AI may have been used to write an increasingly large amount of scientific literature.

Two academic papers assert that analyzing word choice in the corpus of science publications reveals an increasing usage of AI for writing research papers. One study, published in March by Andrew Gray of University College London in the UK, suggests one percent of all papers published in 2023 were written at least partially by AI. A second paper published in April by a Stanford University team in the US claims this figure might range between 6.3 and 17.5 percent, depending on the topic.

Both papers looked for certain words that large language models (LLMs) use habitually, such as “intricate,” “pivotal,” and “meticulously.” By tracking the use of those words across scientific literature, and comparing this to words that aren’t particularly favored by AI, the two studies say they can detect an increasing reliance on machine learning within the scientific publishing community.

In Gray’s paper, the use of control words like “red,” “conclusion,” and “after” changed by a few percent from 2019 to 2023. The same was true of other certain adjectives and adverbs until 2023 (termed the post-LLM year by Gray).

In that year use of the words “meticulous,” “commendable,” and “intricate,” rose by 59, 83, and 117 percent respectively, while their prevalence in scientific literature hardly changed between 2019 and 2022. The word with the single biggest increase in prevalence post-2022 was “meticulously”, up 137 percent.

The Stanford paper found similar phenomena, demonstrating a sudden increase for the words “realm,” “showcasing,” “intricate,” and “pivotal.” The former two were used about 80 percent more often than in 2021 and 2022, while the latter two were used around 120 and almost 160 percent more frequently respectively.

The researchers also considered word usage statistics in various scientific disciplines. Computer science and electrical engineering were ahead of the pack when it came to using AI-preferred language, while mathematics, physics, and papers published by the journal Nature, only saw increases of between five and 7.5 percent.

The Stanford bods also noted that authors posting more preprints, working in more crowded fields, and writing shorter papers seem to use AI more frequently. Their paper suggests that a general lack of time and a need to write as much as possible encourages the use of LLMs, which can help increase output.

Potentially the next big controversy in the scientific community

Using AI to help in the research process isn’t anything new, and lots of boffins are open about utilizing AI to tweak experiments to achieve better results. However, using AI to actually write abstracts and other chunks of papers is very different, because the general expectation is that scientific articles are written by actual humans, not robots, and at least a couple of publishers consider using LLMs to write papers to be scientific misconduct.

Using AI models can be very risky as they often produce inaccurate text, the very thing scientific literature is not supposed to do. AI models can even fabricate quotations and citations, an occurrence that infamously got two New York attorneys in trouble for citing cases ChatGPT had dreamed up.

“Authors who are using LLM-generated text must be pressured to disclose this or to think twice about whether doing so is appropriate in the first place, as a matter of basic research integrity,” University College London’s Gray opined.

The Stanford researchers also raised similar concerns, writing that use of generative AI in scientific literature could create “risks to the security and independence of scientific practice.” ®

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Safety & Health Environmental Officer (Harare) at Teecherz Home & Office – Pindula Jobs – pindula.co.zw

Job Description

Responsible for planning, implementing and overseeing company’s employee safety at work.

Duties and Responsibilities

Drafting, implementing and maintaining Group’s Occupational Health and Safety policy.
Ensuring that all Occupational Safety & Health standards are adhered to in order to mitigate occupational hazards.
Ensuring compliance of all Occupational Safety and Healthy laws and by-laws and safety regulations i.e Factories and works Act, NSSA Acts and EMA Act.
Identifying potential health hazards within the work place and work towards correcting them.
Ensuring that regular inspections and maintenance of machines are done (through registers) by responsible maintenance personnel to ensure safety.
Compiling occupational health and safety programs and encouraging safe working techniques.
Coming up with accident preparedness plan for all SBUs.
Investigating all accidents and giving recommendations to management.
Submitting monthly occupational safety health reports to the Group Human Resources Manager.
Working hand in hand with the Health Committee to ensure implementation of Health and Safety Policy.

Qualifications and Experience

A Degree in Environmental and Health or equivalent.
Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health.
Certificate in First Aid and Fire Fighting an added advantage.
At least 5 years’ experience in similar position.

Other

How to Apply

Suitably qualified candidates are required to send their CV together with certified academic certificates to: mmcconsultancy22@gmail.com, clearly indicating the position being applied for and preferred city on the email subject. Deadline: 10 May 2024