Four days to the commencement of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Championships in China, there are doubts that Nigeria will be present at the global tournament due to lack of funds.
Only last week, Nigeria failed to take part in the ITTF African Junior Championship following the inability of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) to secure funds from the National Sports Commission (NSC).
Despite efforts by the Wahid Oshodi led NTTF board to return Nigeria to the zenith of the sport in Africa, there has not be commensurate backing from the NSC and this has become a source of worry to table tennis buffs.
In February the NTTF had informed the NSC about the country’s participation in the championship but up till now there has not been any concrete assurance or approval from the NSC that the team would feature in the competition.
Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri
Also the singular effort of Aruna Quadri to put Nigeria on the world map by winning the ITTF Star Player of the year has not received any formal support from the commission.
However, Nigerian players have also been considered as title contenders at the global championship holding in Suzhou, China but the recent development may prevent the team from taking part in the event.
Effort by NTTF to secure fund from NSC has been frustrated by the office of Federation and Elite Athlete Department (FEAD) headed by Khalid Gidado.
It was learned that NTTF has written to the commission in February to be part of the competition with all the necessary documents provided by the federation backing up the country’s participation in the championship while the Director General (DG), Gbenga Elegbeleye has also given his verbal approval but the inability of FEAD to make the file available to the DG for final approval has stalled the release of fund.
This development has made it impossible for the federation to get the fund on time to travel to Suzhou in China for the competition.
Also the federation has also made effort to secure a one-week training camp for the team and this has received the nodding of the Chinese Table Tennis Association but the fund to get the flight ticket for the team may have stopped the team from flying to China last week.
Nigerian Women’s Team, at the 2015 ITTF-Africa Senior Championships
Also the federation intends to use the tournament to tune up the team for the African Cup in Cameroun as well as the All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville but this development may halt the federation’s plan.
It will be recalled that Nigeria failed to make it to the last ITTF African Junior Championships held in Mauritius over paucity of fund. A development the Africa Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) believes would affect the giant stride made by NTTF in the last two years.
Over N8m will be up for grab at the maiden Lagos Athletics Relays Championship scheduled for April 24 and 25 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.
The tournament is part of the Lagos International Sports Classics, which has hosted and still hosting tournaments in table tennis, badminton, taekwondo, swimming, golf among others.
For the Relay tournament, nine events will be competed for in the junior and senior categories with over 43 schools already confirmed for the junior division while 18 clubs have also been listed in the senior cadre.
According to the chairman, Lagos State Athletics Association, Olatunde Makanju, the tournament is meant to help popularize the sport among students as well as ignite the interest of people in athletics.
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“We want to use this championship to popularize athletics in schools because it seems the sport is going down in schools and also to assemble the best across the globe in Lagos so that through this, the young athletes can develop more interest in the sport. For us in Lagos, we are always setting the pace and we hope that this maiden edition will be a springboard for the sport to win more disciples and have more young people competing in athletics,” Makanju said.
The junior category is open to all secondary schools in Lagos as they compete in 4x100metre, 4x200m, 100 as well as Swedish relays in 100, 200, 300 and 400M. The top three athletes in each event will go home with N50,000, N30,000 and N20,000 respectively.
The senior division is open to States, clubs, tertiary institutions, military, para military organizations and foreign countries.
The events in the senior category are 4×100, 4×200, and 4×400, sprint medley like 100, 200, 400 and 800metres. The top three athletes in the senior cadre will cart home N120,000, N80,000 and N50,000 respectively.
Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF) has described the death of its patron, Senator Uche Chukwumerije has a big loss to the sport in Nigeria.
In a statement signed by its president George Ashiru, the NTF highlighted the immense contribution of the lawmaker, towards popularising the sport.
he Chukwumerije brothers
“The Nigeria Taekwondo Federation regretfully announces the passing away of Senator Uche Chukwumerije, a founding father and patron of the Federation. Senator Chukwumerije was a 5th Degree black belt issued in Korea, and spawned a family of 8 black belts many of whom were national and international champions. These include the late Kwame Chukwumerije, who at 15, in 1987 was considered good enough to be invited to the national team for then world championships. His others sons Uche and Chika have both been African Games champions and Chika has gone on to do the country even more proud picking a Bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games.
He added: “Late Senator Chukwumerije, was a former President of the Nigeria Taekwondo Black Belt College, and was part of the team of leaders who agitated for the official recognition of Taekwondo by the National Sports Commission in 1987. He singlehandedly sponsored the 2007 Nigerian Team to the 2007 Olympic Qualification Tournament, amongst many others. He also singlehandedly hosted and rewarded the 2011 African Games team at a gala event in Abuja.
Senator Uche Chukwumerije
“He is famous for his political leadership as part of the National Assembly’s “Integrity Group”, while serving as a 4 term Senator. He was also a former Minister of Information in the 1990s. On behalf of the entire Taekwondo community, I extend our heartfelt condolences to the Chukwumerije family, and may the soul of late Senator Uche Chukwumerije rest in peace,” Ashiru said.
A brief outline of the new thinking of the NFF as custodian of Nigerian Football, a new thinking in the management of the Super Eagles (and our other National Teams) and the appointment of the Coach.
On behalf of the President and the Board of the Nigeria Football Federation I welcome all of you to this important event. The announcement of the new coach of the Super Eagles.
Over the past few months there had understandably been a lot of worry among Nigerian Football fans over the fortunes of our darling team, the Super Eagles, particularly as the team failed to qualify for the 2015 AFCON. There has also understandably been a lot of speculation over the position of the Chief Coach of the Super Eagles, particularly as the contract of the erstwhile Chief Coach had expired and he was contracted on a monthly rolling contract till the end of the AFCON qualifiers.
The Board of the NFF has taken its time to deliberate over the appointment of the Chief Coach for a number of reasons including the following;
1. You will recall that shortly after the election of this new board on the 30th of September 2014, the Federation was engulfed in an unduly elongated and totally unwarranted crisis which lasted to the end of the year.
2. During this period the Super Eagles were involved in the tail end of the qualifying series of matches for the 2015 AFCON.
3. At the beginning of the year while the Super Eagles had no urgently impending matches, the entire country was understandably caught up in the 2015 elections which were practically concluded only this month.
During this period and despite the speculation that was rife in the media, the pressure created by a lot of untruths and rumours peddled by sections of the public, the board remained resolute in its desire to think long term and to ensure that as administrators, the appointment of the Coach of the Super Eagles was part of a holistic strategy and not a knee jerk reaction to yearnings of the public.
As part of this strategy among other things we;
1. appointed a Technical Committee made up of a wide range of experienced technocrats and ex footballers chaired by Mr. Felix Anyansi Agwu an astute and experienced administrator who needs no introduction.
2. appointed a Technical Director in Mr. Shuaibu Amodu, a former Super Eagles Chief Coach.
3. set up a Technical Study Group made up of Ex Footballers, Ex Coaches and Current Coaches chaired by a former captain of the Super Eagles and co-ordinated by a former Chairman of the NFF Technical Committee.
4. subsequently sent members of the TSG on a course abroad to learn a number of things including Scouting and Match Reading.
5. finalised arrangements for members of the NFF Technical Department and some select coaches to go on a Match Reading Course and ensure the purchase of the relevant Match Reading Software.

6. discussed and agreed with a few international clubs who will help with the development of our local coaches and help continue to hone their skills.
7. agreed to fund the continuous professional development of our Chief Coach and other select coaches.
8. embarked on the standardisation of the template for NFF Match Reports.
9. Agreed to adopt the international best practice of transparency in the call up of players for the National Teams and in the mode of release of the names of those called to all National Team Camps.
All of these are designed to give various types of technical back room support for the Chief Coach of the Super Eagles (and other National Team Coaches) and to ensure equity and transparency in our National Teams.
Stephen Keshi – Super Eagles Coach
Having done all of the above the Technical Committee was mandated to advise on the appointment of a new Chief Coach of the Super Eagles. After various deliberations and a number of considerations Mr. Stephen Okechukwu Keshi was recommended to the NFF board and we accepted their recommendation and instructed that a contract be discussed and drawn up that will reflect the new thinking of the NFF board.
These new thinking includes the institutionalisation of the Employer-Employee relationship between the NFF and the Chief Coach which must be based on mutual respect, transparency, team work with a view to achieving long term success for Nigerian Football and must be devoid of political undertones.
Reading through the media reports of the last few months, the last few weeks and the last few days, those of you who did not want us to appoint Mr. Keshi have propounded a lot of arguments in that regard and in some cases have even alluded that he is being foisted upon us. Those of you who have approached me directly have been told that whatever decision we come up with will be a result of thorough assessment of the current situation as Football Administrators not merely as football fans which we undoubtedly are.
As the President of the NFF has continuously reiterated and as we all know Mr. Keshi is a quintessential Nigerian football hero having brought glory to our dear country as a player, captain of the National Team and as a coach of the Super Eagles. He does have a winning pedigree and despite our failure to qualify for the 2015 AFCON, we must remember that he has succeeded with the Super Eagles before and is one of our more experienced Nigerian Coaches with vast international football experience and therefore remains a champion for the development our indigenous coaches. His appointment is part of a novel long term plan for the development of a pool of World Class indigenous coaches over the next 5 (five) – 10 (ten) years.
Seyi Akinwunmi, Chairman, Lagos State FA and 1st Vice President NFF
Those who allege that he does not have the technical acumen to make the Eagles soar again must have a very short memory. In any event the current NFF Committee takes the work of its committees very seriously and has no reason to fault the report of the Technical Committee of the NFF recommending the engagement of Mr. stephen Keshi as the Chief Coach of the Super Eagles on a 2 (two) year contract with a charge to create a new, young and vibrant Super Eagles playing a style of football that all Nigerians will be proud of, to lead
the redevelopment of a Nigerian Football culture through among other things the discovery of new talented and exceptional players from the local leagues and other developmental leagues across the world.
One of the biggest challenges we are giving him is to build upon the progress we are making with the Under 20’s and to ensure a seamless transition into the senior national team, the Super Eagles.
Seyi Akinwunmi
1st Vice President
Nigeria Football Federation 21/4/2014
Sequel to the announcement by the organisers of the South-West league scheduled for 25th April 2015, as the commencement date for the 2nd phase of the South West league, the Friends of Rugby hereby announce a press briefing and anti doping seminar which will be held at the Media Centre situated inside the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos on Thursday 23rd of April 2015.
The chairman of Friends of Rugby; Mr Kelechukwu Mbagwu the Managing Director of CMB Building Maintenance & Investment Co. Ltd sponsors of the southwest rugby league, made the announcement today to herald the commencement of the 2nd phase of the league.
The anti doping seminar will come up immediately after the press briefing and will be conducted by Doctor Bukola Bojuwoye a renowned sports medicine practitioner who has had stints with the U-23 male National team, the Falconets and also the Falcons at different times over the years.
Southwest Rugby League
The seminar is mandatory for team coaches and captains of all participating teams in the South West League; According to Dr. Bojuwoye, the seminar will focus on anti-doping in Rugby and how athletes can be on top of their game without the influence of drug.
The President of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation, Sir Edward Fom Pam commended the efforts of the organizers of the league and charged other regions to emulate the sponsors of the South Western League for educating players on the negative impact of drugs in sports and latest rules of the gentleman’s game
The London International Horse Show, Olympia (GBR) has been unveiled as the “Best Press Office” for the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Western European League 2014/2015, following voting by global media.
The Olympia press office, led by Jo Peck, who has worked in the equestrian events industry for 12 years and in the wider events industry for 20 years, first represented her team when they won this coveted award in 2013. This same team was celebrated by media at the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final in Las Vegas (USA) last weekend.
“In 2014 we invested in a better working environment for the media at Olympia and our team was very focused on making the media experience as easy and user-friendly as possible”, said Jo Peck.
“This work has paid great dividends and this award is testament to all our efforts. Olympia is the Christmas highlight of the prestigious Longines series, attracting large numbers of visitors and the media centre is always a hive of industry, generating significant international coverage for the event.”
FEI Director of Press Relations Grania Willis presents Jo Peck, press officer for the London International Horse Show, Olympia, with the Best Press Office award for the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Western European League 2014/2015 at the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final in Las Vegas (NV). (Photo: Dirk Caremans/FEI)
“The media teams working to raise awareness of our sport and the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping do a tremendous job, making sure that media have all the latest information and tools necessary to put our athletes and sponsors into the limelight,” said FEI Director of Press Relations, Grania Willis.
“The Best Press Office award is hard-fought, and the media who voted for Olympia were really enthusiastic, highlighting their positive experiences of working at the event. To win this award once is fantastic, but to win it twice is seriously impressive and very well deserved.”
The Stuttgart Masters was the first to win the Best Press Office Award when it was introduced in 2011. Jumping Verona then took the award in 2012, with London Olympia winning the media accolade in 2013 and Gothenburg talking the honours in 2014.
Not less than 8,000 schools have registered for the 17th Nestle MILO Secondary Schools Basketball Championship tagged “Slam to win” across the 36 states and the Federal capital territory of Nigeria.
At a press conference to herald the 17th edition of the championship,the Managing Director of Nestle Nigeria PLC, Dharnesh Gordhon said, ” The championship is aimed at inspiring the Nigerian youth to get into sports and enjoy the positive experience of physical activities early in life whilst instilling life values of hard work,responsibilty,fair play,discipline,perseverance and team work spirit”
The President FIBA Africa (Zone 3) Col. Sam Ahmedu presents an electronic scoreboard to the organisers of the MILO championship.
According to the Category Manager Beverages, Mr Olufemi Akintola “Champions from 36 states and FCT will slug it out in four conferences where they will represent their states. The winner of each of the conference will qualify for the national finals. Two lucky losers will also qualify to play in the national finals. The four conferences are: Confluence conference in Lokoja, Atlantic conference in Benin-city, Central conference in Akure and Western conference in Ibadan.”
He also said at the end of the conferences,twelve teams (six male and six female) will emerge to play at the grand finale of the 17th MILO Secondary Schools Basketball Championship. All twelve teams will battle it out for the coveted cup at the Indoor sports hall of the National stadium, Surulere, Lagos from 1st to 6th June this year. Every team participating in the national finals will receive N200,000. Winners will go home with additional N150000 for first place,while the second and third placed teams will receive N120,000 and N100,000 respectively.
The draw for the National finals were made at the press conference;
Nestle presents the 17th Milo Basketball Championship
Male Category:
Group A
Central Conference Champion
Confluence Conference Champion
Best Loser 1
Group B
Western Conference champion
Atlantic Conference champion
Best Loser 2
Female Category:
Group A
Central Conference champion
Confluence Conference champion
Best Loser 2
Group B
Western Conference champion
Atlantic Conference champion
Best Loser 1
Randy Orton has been on the case of Seth Rollins since his return to WWE after four months out due to an injury inflicted on him by the former Shield man.
The enmity between the two saw them faceoff at Wrestlemania 31 and Orton came out victorious on that occasion. However, things has since changed, Rollins is now the WWE World Heavyweight Champion after cashing in his money in the bank contract at Wrestlemania.
Following the suspension of Brock Lesner from WWE, Orton has emerged as the number one contender to Rollins title at the Extreme Rules next Sunday.
However, as part of the conditions to doing battle with Rollins, the World Heavyweight Champion has stated that Orton will not be allowed to use his signature finishing move, the RKO.
Orton on his part requested that the match took place in a steel cage so as to prevent any form of interference. However, the 12-time champion stated that since he will not be able to use the RKO, he will have to dish out enough of it before Sunday’s bout stating that Rollins himself will be a victim by the end of RAW.
Orton kept his promise. After hitting the RKO on a number of Superstars during RAW, he finally nailed Rollins with the move by the end of the evening setting the stage for an explosive encounter on Sunday.
The Captain of Warri Wolves, Azubuike Egwuekwe has dedicated their slim victory over MK Etancheite from D.R.Congo to the Executive Governor of Delta State, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan who motivated them before the first leg and assured him that the team will qualify for the next round which is the group stage.
According to Azubuike, even though people tend to say that it is over, the players have seen their opponents and know what to do in the second leg which comes up next week.
He said some of their key players did not play in the first leg including himself and the second leg would be a different ball game.
“We dedicated our victory to Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan who came to talk to us before the match. It could have been worse and we thank him for all he has done for the team. We hope to overcome the team from Congo even though a lot of people have given up but we know what to do having played them here.
Gov Uduaghan addressing Warri Wolves players before the match vs MK Etancheite. photo credit Moses Etu Media Manager Warri Wolves
On the performance of the team since its inception, we have not done badly because we have rubbed shoulders with the best in the land within a short time. There are teams who have been on ground for the past 30 years or more but here we are, within 8 years, we have qualified for the continent four times, played FA Cup final once and if you mention four teams in this country, you must mention Warri Wolves.
We know we can do better and we are working towards that. Our players are all over the world, doing well.” said Egwuekwe .
Botswana’s national volleyball league received a massive boost last Friday when mobile phone operator Mascom Wireless announced an extension of their league sponsorship to the tune of P1.5 million for the whole of 2015.
The announcement was made by the sponsor’s Chief Communications and PR Officer Tebogo LebotseSebego at the launch of what is called the Mascom Volleyball League.
Mascom has been sponsoring the volleyball league since 2010 and the 2013 and 2014 seasons were each sponsored at the same P1.5 million amount.
Kutlwano Volleyball team (Botswana)
The sponsorship of 2010 to 2012 was at P1million, later to be increased by 50percent. The league games began over the past weekend and will continue for the rest of the year. The following link provides more information on the volleyball league in Botswana, the country’s second most popular sport after football.
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