Nigeria Rugby Football Federation Enters Nigerian Sports Awards Race

In accordance with directive of the organisers of the prestigious Nigerian Sports Awards, the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation has called on all sports loving Nigerians and sports enthusiasts to nominate the federation as the Ball Sport of the year and also Administrator of the year for 2014/2015.

According to the President of the Federation ‘Sir Fom Edward Pam’ being nominated and winning the 2015 award will be “an icing on an already sweet and creamy cake” considering the lofty achievements recorded by the federation despite the poor level of support from the National Sports Commission and the Ministry of Sports.

It would be recalled that in 2014, the federation under Sir Edward Fom Pam mobilized and masterminded the Nigeria’s Rugby senior national team qualification for the Commonwealth games in Glasgow, Scotland.

Despite the heartbreak from the Nigerian Olympics Committee and then Director General of the National Sports Commission, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye who decided that Rugby was not going to be represented at the fiesta, they were undeterred as they rallied back from this heartbreak to travel to Togo for the All African games and pre-Olympics qualifiers where they booked their tickets to these events with little or no support from government.

The NRFF is one of the few federations in the country with a regular league season which is divided into 4 regions for easier administrative purposes; The NRFF is also focused on grassroot development thereby giving home based players the opportunity to excel in the sport.

The Nigeria Rugby Football Federation as also engaged the service of a foreign coach (Fabian Juries) and this as boosted the growth of Rugby. The fast pace of the sport is manifest in Nigeria’s rating and ranking by World Rugby (the international ruling body) The NRFF also possesses a technical department that is fully automated and is equipped with a second to none Data base, the federation in conjunction with Rugby Africa (the continental ruling body) organized a weeklong training for coaches and referees in Nigeria while grassroots programs have also been initiated in schools in their quest to take the sport to the nooks and crannies of the country.

To nominate NRFF as the Ball Sport of the year and Administrator of the year in Nigeria for 2014/2015 calendar year, log on to http://nigeriansportsaward.com/nominations

Nigerian Sports Award: Nominations to Close September 26…Organizers Salutes Nigerian Athletes Performance at AAG

Organizers of the prestigious Nigerian Sports Award, Unmissable Incentives Limited have announced that the nominations of Sportsmen and Women for the different categories of awards for the 2015 edition would close on Saturday, September 26, 2015

Kayode Idowu, Executive Director, Unmissable Incentives Limited, disclosed this in Lagos on Monday while briefing the media on developments on the 2015 edition of the Nigerian Sports Award.

Kayode Idowu, Nigerian sports awards

Idowu revealed that the nominations for this year’s edition of the award was deliberately prolonged to close after the just concluded All African Games to accommodate the different major sporting activities for the year.

“In the past, we have had instances where some Nigerian Sportsmen and Women recorded some outstanding performances during the course of the award year but couldn’t make it into nominations. This is why we decided to ensure that nominations for this year closes at the end of all the major sporting events” he said.

He then used the opportunity to commend and congratulate the Nigerian athletes to the just concluded All African Games for the outstanding performance and medal haul at the tournament.

AfroBasket 2015 champions Nigeria

He also commended the Nigerian Basketball Team, D’Tigers for winning the recently concluded FIBA Africa Basketball competition and picking the ticket to compete in the Basketball event at the next Olympic games billed to hold in Rio, Brazil.

Idowu called for Nigerians to seize the opportunity of the remaining few days to nominate their favourite Nigerian athletes who have recorded excellent performances in their various sports during the course of the year.

He urged Nigerian sports enthusiasts to visit the website of the award using the link – http://nigeriansportsaward.com/nominations/ or nominate on Facebook as well as Twitter.

It would be recalled that the nominations phase of the 2015 edition of the award opened on June 4th, 2015. Verification of entries by the Auditors would hold between September 26th and 28th while the announcement of final shortlist would be made public on October 6th.

All African Games Miss Was Devastating-Azeez Ladipo

Captain of Nigeria senior national Rugby team the Black Stallions, Azeez Ladipo has described their absence from the All African Games as devastating and heart wrenching watching the Nigerian contingent compete despite qualifying for the event.

Speaking with journalists, Azeez who doubles as captain of the national team and Southwest Rugby League champions, Cowrie RFC said it was more painful having been made to pass through the same harrowing experience following their exclusion from the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth games by the Nigeria Olympics Committee.

“We are devastated, the federation is devastated, and the boys are devastated.”But we are not letting that put us down.

The resilient flyhalf said despite the setback, they will not stop trying or give up because Rugby has come to stay in Nigeria.

Captain Azeez Ladipo on National duty for the Black Stallions

He revealed that he has spoken to some of the national teams players both home and abroad as their captain, he encouraged them not to give up or allow the setback to let them down.

He promised that they will definitely channel their energy into the Rio 2016 Olympics qualifiers scheduled to hold in South Africa later in November.

“It is going to be difficult too because it’s a very tough task but we are not going to give up. We are going to keep fighting until Nigeria is recognized as a world power in Rugby.”

2015 All African Games: Nigerian Women Stun Home Team, Congo Brazzaville To Hit Final

Nigeria female team were in fine form against home team, Congo Brazzaville after a convincing 3-0 semifinal win in table tennis event of the ongoing African Games in Brazzaville.

The venue of the encounter went into total silence after the final match as the Nigerian ladies jubillate over the hard-earned victory.

Olufunke Oshonaike, Edem Offiong and Cecilia Otu-Akpan were the heroes of the day as they played their hearts out in the encounter which witnessed a lot of intimidation from the home fans with their Chinese imports bowing to the Nigerian.

However, Oshonaike began the rout with an emphatic 3-1 win over Chinese-born Yuheng Li while Edem Offiong was merciless against ageing Han Xing with another 3-1.

The 3-0 bashing was rounded by Edem and Otu-Akpan in doubles but it was not without much efforts from the Nigerians.

Nigerian Women Stuns Home Team, Congo Brazzaville To Hit Final

Even when the match was at 2-2 in the doubles, the Nigerian ladies played with a lot of confidence and this paid off for them with a 3-2 win to give Nigeria 3-0 victory. The win qualified Nigeria for final against their arch-rival, Egypt.

Earlier, Egypt had overcome Algeria easily with a 3-0 bashing.

The finals of the men and women team events hold on Sunday September 13.

Ahead African Games: Former Africa Champion Boosts Taekwondo Team…

Ahead African Games: Former Africa Champion Boosts Taekwondo Team, Showers N.2M On Contingent

Two-time African Games gold medalist, Margaret Elizabeth Binga, in company of fellow African Champion, Chika Chukwumerije, stormed the National Taekwondo Camp in Abuja to inspire and share first-hand knowledge with the chosen athletes to the Taekwondo event of the 2015 All Africa Games, holding in Congo Brazzaville in a fortnight.

Over the weekend, the retired maestro, who is also the current Vice-President of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation and a World Taekwondo Federation International Referee, who will also be officiating at the 2015 AAG donned her Taekwondo gear to share tactical and practical fighting tips with the team, who are currently camped in Abuja.

Mrs Binga in action against Fatimoh Abdullahi [-57kg]

Mrs Binga explained why she flew down just to see the athletes.

“The aim is to use our past Champions to inspire the future ones, and to transfer real knowledge that would be of use to the Nigeria representatives. Being an official for the 2015 AAG and an official at almost every major WTF tournament this year, i felt it was important and a duty to pass down my knowledge and experience to our next generation of stars.”

Head of the NTF Coaching Department, Tony Anafulu was also present alongside the two of indigenous coaches – John Victor and Abdul-malik Mohammed – who will be leading the team to Congo Brazzaville, and have been working very hard over the past weeks with the team.

Mrs Binga, who is also an officer with the Nigeria Customs Service, and to be inducted into the World Taekwondo Hall of Fame next month was quick to recognize and praise the efforts of the indigenous coaches.

NTF Vice-President illustrates a legal technique to the athletes

“The Coaches are doing a good job so far, and I know the tactical tempo will be raised in the remaining two weeks to get the team battle-ready. Meanwhile I will continue to give the technical crew and athletes all the support I can.”

The athletes’ expressed their joy to our correspondent through the Female Captain, 21 year old Chinazum Nwosu who competes in the -52kg, and is the current National Champion in that weight category.

“We learnt valuable tips that would hopefully make a difference in Congo, and the Vice-President went one step further in matching her words with action by the token she gave to the team.”

“The VP came here, gave us valuable competition tips and crowned it with all with N200, 000 as a motivational token. Our morale has been reinvigorated and we are determined to do our best to make Nigeria proud at the AAG.” Ms. Chinazum declared.

NTF Vice-President illustrates a legal technique to the athletes

Final list includes: defending AAG Gold Medallists, Uche Chukwumerije [+87kg], who will captain the 16-man team, and Jamilu Mohammed [-58kg].

Other AAG medallists that make the team are 2011 AAG Bronze Medallist, Sunday Onofe [-80kg], and 2011 Bronze Medallist, Joy Ekhator [-49kg] who also won a Silver in the 2007 edition.

Commonwealth Gold Medallists, Abubakar Isah Adamu [-54kg], Josephine Esuku [-46kg]. Other Commonwealth Medallists that made the team were Segun Olushola [-74kg] and Uzoamaka Otuadinma [-72kg].

Other members of the team include: Edwin Samson Nduka (-63kg), Kolade Paul (-68kg), Ayodele Temitope Ebenezer (-87kg), Chinazum Nwosu (-52kg), Fatimoh Abdullahi (-57kg), Ndu Vivian (-63kg), Ifeoma Dennis (-67kg), and Esther Uzoukwu (+73kg)

The Taekwondo event of the 2015 African Games will be taking place 16 – 19 August 2015.

Dominant D’Tigress Qualify for 2015 Afrobasket/AAG.

After a dominant 20 points win in the 1st leg on Thursday in Abidjan, the Nigerian Female national team sealed qualification for the 2015 Afrobasket for Women/ All African Games later this year with an emphatic 88-43 points win over Cote d’ivoire in the 2nd round match at the Palais du Sport in Abidjan.

The D’Tigress was powered to victory by Uju Ugoka’s 14 points, with captain Helen Ogunjimi and Primeiro Agosto point guard, Sarah Ogoke adding 13 points each in an impressive display on the night that saw the D’Tigress claw past the female Elephants with ease.

The Scott Nnaji lead Ladies took charge from the jump ball, taking a 10 points lead in the opening 10 minutes (25-15), then extended their lead to 47-27 at half time.

Nigeria’s women Basketball National team D’TIGRESS, photo credit Atosu Upe Esther

D’Tigress ended any hopes of a comeback for the female Elephants of Cote D’ivoire in the 3rd quarter outscoring them 26-9 to pull up an unassailable 71-36 points lead going into the 4th quarter. Closing the deal with a 17-6 points scoreline in the final 10 minutes.

First Bank Basketball club point guard Atosu Upe also had an electrifying night scoring 12 points alongside sparkling Ndidi Madu who also put up 12 points.

Nigeria has now booked a date with Angola, Senegal, Algeria, the qualifier from FIBA Africa Zone 2 and yet to be named wild card entry in group B of the 2015 Afrobasket in Yaounde, Cameroun come September 22-3rd October for a battle for a 3rd African title and a ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Femi Adefeso

Nigeria’s Black Stallions departs for Togo

The delegation of Senior rugby national team in the wee hours of friday departed the shores of Nigeria for the much talked about All African games and pre Olympics qualifiers holding in Togo on the 6th of this month.

The 16 man delegation with 12 players, 3 officials and Team Doctor was led by Vice President and Technical Director of the Nigeria Rugby Federation, Fasimoye Olatunji.

Speaking before departure, captain of the side, Azeez Oladipo assured Nigerians that the boys have learnt their lessons from last year’s experiences in Zimbabwe and Botswana where the inexperience of some of the players proved too costly at the critical stages of the competitions.

“With the technical input of South African rugby legend, Fabian Juries, the massive support of the National sports commission, the Nigeria Rugby Football federation and prayers of over 160 million Nigerians, the team is ready to gallop to the All African games”

Nigeria National Rugby The Black Stallions photo credit Afolabi Oni

Meanwhile, Vice President of the federation, Fasimoye Olatunji said the boys have been given adequate preparation to excel at the one day tournament.

“With the way I am seeing these boys, they are raring to go and join other federations who have booked their tickets to the fast approaching games in Congo”

“They have given the federation their word that they will represent the country well out there”

“All we need is the support of our teeming supporters, we promise not to let them down.”

The team has been drawn to play Morocco and Mali in the group stage.

Melissa, Otu’s Success Thrills CBN

The emergence of Melissa Ifidzhen and Thomas Otu as the women and men singles winners of the 37th Central Bank of Nigeria Tennis Championship has been applauded by the sponsors.

According to the Director of Corporate Communication of the CBN, Ibrahim Mu’azu, the emergence of new sets of winners in the 10-day championship which was concluded at the weekend is a testimony that Nigeria has substantial number of talents in the sport.

Russian-born Melissa, who only opted to play for Nigeria early this year, defeated defending champion and top-seed, Christy Agugbom 6-3, 6-2 while Otu, a former finalist won the men’s title with a spirited performance against reigning Governor’s Cup champion, Moses Michael 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Melissa Ifidzhen At 37th Central bank of Nigeria Open Senior Tennis Championship

Mu’azu, who was on hand to witness the final matches played on Sunday morning due to an inclement weather on the original Saturday final date, pointed that more players will be encouraged to step up and challenge for the title, knowing that the tournament can be won by any player that is on top of his or her game.

“Firstly, the CBN is extremely delighted with the fact that the winners in the men and women singles are achieving the feat for the very first time in their career.

“We are equally happy about this development because it shows that we have abundant talents which can do Nigeria proud at top events like the Davis Cup and the All African Games,” he pointed.

Engr. Sani Ndanusa, President Nigeria Tennis Federation

Nigeria Tennis Federation President, Engr. Sani Ndanusa, on his part, said the federation will continue to provide the platform for players to excel in the game. He pledged that effort at getting more tournaments to keep the players in top form will be sustained with renew vigour.

FINA CLINIC FOR SWIMMING OFFICIALS HOLDS IN BRAZZAVILLE

A FINA clinic for swimming officials was organised by the Fédération Congolaise de Natation (FECONAT) from April 13-17 in the capital city, Brazzaville (CGO). The clinic attracted 26 participants aspiring to become official technical staff at the African Games.

The five-day course was aimed to strengthen the technical officials’ expertise. Strategic positioning and handling of the tools were trained with practical exercises.

The FECONAT provided key information about the latest sports technical trends and in particular about the 11th African Games to be held from September 4-19, 2015 in Brazzaville. A visit of the future competition venues was organised for the participants all coming from surrounding nations.

Ten applicants have been selected to be official timekeepers at the next African Games.

MORE DEVELOPMENT NEWS ON FINA.ORG

NBBF Throws D’Tigers Coach Job Open…,

Tijjani Umar. NBBF President

The Nigeria Basketball Federation ( NBBF ) after the board meeting on Sunday stated that the coaching job of the National men’s team open for application.

The board unanimously agreed to this decision after due consultation with the technical committee to open the door to any coach interested to lead the D’Tigers to the defense of their All African Games title and the 2015 FIBA Africa Basketball championship in Tunisia.

The coaches interested in job are to submit there application to the Nigerian Basketball Federation secretariat and the best candidate will be selected after interviews have been conducted.

According to the President of the Nigerian Basketball Federation, Mr Tijjani Umar, the national team gaffer selection will be based on merit as the team hopes to make a return to the Olympics in Rio 2016 by coming tops at the 2015 Afrobasket in Tunisia, having made their debut at the Olympics in London 2012 via the Olympic Qualifying event in Venezuela.

…National Teams to Camp in Nigeria

The NBBF President also revealed after the meeting that the Men’s and women’s national team will camp in Nigeria ahead of the All Africa Games and the 2015 Afrobasket for men and women.

Mr Umar stated that the teams will be camped in Abuja ahead of their continental showpiece,so as to bring a level playing field for both the foreign and home based players to compete for a place on the team and also practise in the African atmosphere ahead of the tournaments.

The NBBF President also disclosed that a two man task force including himself and the Vice President of the federation, who doubles as the chairman of the Technical committee, Mr Muktar Khaleh will travel to the US to interface with the US based players and organise friendlies and prospective training tour hosts ahead of the competitions.

Tijjani Umar. NBBF President

He said:

” We already have friendly matches and pre-tournament competitions mapped out in Europe and in China but we will also plan have a training tour in the United States even though we will camp in Abuja”.

The task force will leave for the United States as soon as the Women’s qualification tournament in Abidjan on May 30th”. He added.

The national basketball team has always had his camping in the US in the last decade or so and it’s about time the players wherever they are based come to the country and give the fans an opportunity to get to know and interact with them.

The resumption date for the D’Tigers will be announced in due course having already qualified for the Afrobasket and All African Games while the D’Tigress (the female national team) will resume camp this week as they prepare to battle for qualification to the continental showpieces from the 26th to 30th of May against the likes of Cote d’ivoire, Ghana and Liberia in Abidjan. The invited players and coaches of the female national camp will be announced after the conclusion of the 1st Phase of Zenith Bank Female Basketball League.

Rwanda Crowned Zone 5 Champions At AAG Beach Volleyball Qualifier

The Rwandan men’s beach volleyball team of Olivier Ntagengwa and Flavien Ndamukunda has been crowned Zone V champions after beating Burundi in the final of Zonal qualifiers for AAG on Saturday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The Rwandan Pair that won zone 5 AAG qualifier

Ndamukunda and Ntagengwa beat Burundian opponents 2-0 (21-11 and 21-18). The two-day tournament started on Friday.

Rwanda has qualified for this year’s All African Games slated for Congo Brazzaville in September 4-19 along with Burundi, Kenya and Egypt.

En-route to the final, the Rwandan pair secured two wins in three games in group stages. Rwanda beat Uganda 2- 0 (21-18 and 21-16) and Eritrea 2-0 (21-5, 21-6) before losing to Burundi 2-1 (26 24, 18-21 and 13-15).

In semi-finals Ntagengwa and Ndamukunda beat the Kenyan team 2-1, (21-17, 21-13, and 15-12) while Burundi won over Egypt 2-1.

Rwanda v Eretrea

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TAREK AL-ADWAR, CAVB

NSC Thumbs up NBBF As NBBF Gets Set To Present Olympic Qualification Blueprint

Having successfully qualified to defend her All African Games title in Congo Brazzaville, and also an opportunity to vie for a place at the 2016 Rio Olympics by qualifying for the 2015 FIBA Africa Championship in Tunisia come August. The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) has received thumbs up from National Sports commission (NSC) for her recent accomplishments following a meeting between the hierarchy of the Basketball Federation and the Director General of the National Sports commission, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye.

National Sports commission DG, Gbenga Elegbeleye,

President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Mr Tijjani Umar, disclosed after the meeting which was held in Abuja that the impressed NSC DG immediately requested the Nigerian Basketball Federation submit her national programmes to the Sports commission to ensure Basketball receives optimum support to succeed in the various competitions leading to the Olympics.

“We’ve set a huge precedence in qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympics. We qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games in London and we want to repeat that experience in Rio de Janeiro next year. In order for us to achieve this, we have outlined programmes that will ensure that both the Men and Women national teams are well prepared to compete at the 2015 FIBA Africa championships so that we can qualify for the Olympics Games”. Mr Umar noted.

Tijjani Umar. NBBF President

The NBBF President further disclosed that the Federation has set up a 2 man task force, that will travel to the United States to meet with the Nigerian players abroad in order to carry them along with the national team programmes having continued to maintain communication with the home based players who persecuted the qualifiers.

“We have so much talent pool that can serve the national team home and abroad, so we have decided that we will present two national teams that will persecute the Afrobasket and All African Games just to ensure we keep all the national players integrated into the national team programmes so we can always have the best talents available at every point time”. He concluded.

Oluwafemi Adefeso