Nigerian Rugby Football Federation Lauds The Media For Their Support

The President of the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation, Sir Edward Pam Fom has lauded the members of the sporting press for their effort in promoting the sport in 2015 and wished them a bountiful 2016 which he predicts will be full of amazing surprises.

In his brief New Year message, Pam Fom described 2015 as a year that saw Rugby taking a big leap with the ever trusted support of the sport writers family.

He said “when you quantify the media mileage enjoyed by Rugby in 2015, you will see that the federation remains indebted to our highly esteemed media partners”.

“The gospel of Rugby was everywhere which has not only helped the federation’s course of seeing the sport rated amongst the top 5 federations in Nigeria.

The Plateau state born administrator pledged his unalloyed commitment to the development of rugby as he called on all stakeholders to come together in improving on the achievements recorded last year.

Edward Fom Pam, NRFF President

He thanked CMB Building Maintenance & Inv Co ltd. for standing behind the federation through thick and thin.

“The South West League would not have been possible neither will camping and traveling for our international competitions be possible” He also thanked Kelechi Mbagwu who has continuously and generously doled out funds to the federation through his company.”

He promised that 2016 will be bigger and better if early indications are anything to go by.

Hawkster Athletics RFC, others pardoned by Disciplinary Committee

The Disciplinary Committee of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation has announced that Hawkster Rugby Football Club of Lagos has fully served their 24 weeks suspension in any NRFF organised event after the club launched verbal and physical abuse on match officials and tournament organizers at the 2014 edition of the Independence Sevens Rugby tournament held in Lagos.

Rising from their 2015 Annual General Assembly after deliberating on the subject matter, the Disciplinary Committee announced the lifting of all sanctions placed on Hawkster Athletic RFC, Stephen James and their coach; Emeka Ukome.

Stephen was slammed with a 24 weeks ban while head coach of the side; Emeka Ukome was suspended for 48 weeks according to the International Rugby Board Sanction Regulation-17, 10.4 (m & s) and 10 .4 (m) in which Nigeria is affiliated.

Tunde Olukorede of Gosar RFC delivering a superb tackle to an Hawkster Athletics player

According to the president of the federation, Sir Edward Pam Fom, despite the club failing to officially apologize for their misconduct, the decision was taken in consideration of Hawkster Athletics players and also for the development of game.

The committee promised to continue maintaining the standard of World Rugby in ensuring that no form of misconduct is tolerated as they encouraged Hawkster to participate in all NRFF sanctioned tournament starting from 2016.

2016 Olympics Qualifiers Is Not Mission Impossible- Edward Pam Fom

The president of the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation, Sir Edward Pam Fom has assured Nigerians that the senior men’s national team will not disappoint Nigerians in South Africa as they seek their 1st ever Olympic ticket.

Fom told journalists that it will not be business as usual when the Black Stallions file out to represent Nigeria as he called for understanding.

According to him “This is a developing nation in rugby, this is a developing national team. At our very worst we are good and at our best, we can be dynamic”

“Nigerians should be patient with us, we hope to always churn out good results as we have always done”

Speaking before their departure for Johannesburg today for a 5 day training exercise before the competition slated for the 14th and 15th of November, the NRFF president thanked the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Dr Alhassan Yakmut for giving the federation an audience to discuss their plans and programs after which he promised to be fully supportive at every point in time.

Nigerian Rugby team the Black Stallions,

He also thanked CMB Building Maintenance & Inv Co. Ltd for their unflinching supports in ensuring the availability of funds for the federation, which has in no small way helped them in preparing the team for international engagements.

He concluded by urging Nigerians to keep supporting, believing and praying for the team as they compete against Zambia, Uganda and Zimbabwe in group B in their quest to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Nigeria’s Black Stallions Of To South Africa For Olympic Qualifiers

The Nigeria Rugby Senior National team also known as the Black Stallions will depart tomorrow, Sunday, 8th of November for Johannesburg, South Africa for the Rio 2016 Olympics qualifiers.

7 home based players and 4 officials will depart Lagos from the Murtala Muhammed aboard a Kenyan Airways flight by 12:40pm Sunday 2015. ‎

The delegation will be led by President of the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation, Edward Pam Fom alongside the Vice President, Fasimoye Olatunji, Bandele Coker (Technical Adviser) and Bukola Bojuwoye (Team Doctor) as part of the delegation.

Meanwhile, Head coach, Fabian Juries and all invited foreign players will join the team on the 9th for the 5 days training ahead of the qualifiers on 14th & 15th of November 2015.

Speaking after their last training session on Saturday, the Technical Director of the Federation, Tunji Fasimoye revealed his optimism that the team will do well and might probably surprise the World.

He thanked CMB Building Maintenance & Inv Co. Ltd for their unflinching support in making sure that funds were provided for the federation to facilitate their trip.

In his words, Fasimoye said, “Special kudos must go to Kelechi Mbagwu, Chairman, CMB Building Maintenance and Investment Company Limited for his support.”

“We went to Zambia for the Cup 1C and Togo for the pre-Olympics qualifiers earlier this year with little or no support from the National Sports Commission, CMB came to our rescue and provided the necessary financial backing to make it possible”.

“Months after our trip to Togo, here we are about to travel to South Africa, nothing from the NSC once again. If not for CMB, this trip would not have been possible”

Nigeria has been drawn in Pool B, alongside Zimbabwe, Uganda and Zambia. Zimbabwe are favorites to advance from Pool B.

Black Stallions,

Full list

Christian OGAR (Cowrie RFC, Prop/Hooker)

Ikechukwu ONWUKANJO (USA Northeast Olympic Academy, Wing/Prop)

Nuhu Ibrahim SAMAILA (Barewa RFC, Scrum half/ Playmaker)

Danjuma MSHELIA (Richmond RFC, UK, Wing)

Alfred OCHE (Jos RFC, Fly half)

Omotohunola ODULAJA (Old Blues RFC, Scrum Half/ Playmaker)

Azeez LADIPO (Cowrie RFC, Fly half/ Playmaker)

Ayomide Joseph MOGAJI (Dorking RFC, Prop/ Wing)

Onoru Oyiza JATTO (Cowrie RFC, Wing)

Samuel EKPO (Cowrie RFC, Prop)

Onyinyeukwu ONWUKANJO (Davenport University Rugby, Prop/Hooker)

Hafis AYINLA (Cowrie RFC, Prop)

ThankGod OKAFOR (Sharks RFC, South Africa, Prop/ Centre)

Standby Player
Emmanuel AKINLUYI (Samurai Midwives, HFW Wailers, Prop/Centre)

Nigerian Rugby Football Federation Releases 14 Man List For Olympic Qualifiers

In line with their promise and drive to qualify for the 2016 Olympics, the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation Technical Committee has released a strong 14 man list for next month’s qualifiers in South Africa.

Arising from their technical meeting held on Tuesday in Lagos, the federation listed Nigeria’s rugby golden boy and speedster, Christian Ogar (Cowrie RFC), Nuhu Ibrahim Samaila (Barewa RFC), Alfred Oche (Jos RFC), Onoru Oyiza Jatto (Cowrie RFC), Samuel Ekpo (Cowrie RFC), Hafis Ayinla (Cowrie RFC) as part of the team to be captained by Azeez Ladipo (Cowrie RFC).

Determined to have a blend of homegrown and foreign base players, 3 players were invited from the United Kingdom, 2 from the United States of America and 1 from South Africa, most of whom were discovered at the recently held President Cup international invitational tournament The Onwukanjo brothers may be in line to feature for the national team together for the first time following the decision of the federation to extend an invitation to Onyinye Onwukanjo (Davenport University Rugby, USA) and Ike Onwukanjo (USA Northeast Olympic Academy).

Other foreign based players are Omotohunola Odulaja (Old Blues RFC, UK), Ayomide Joseph Mogaji (Doking RFC UK), Danjuma Mshelia (Richmond RFC, UK) and Thankgod Okafor (Sharks RFC South Africa)

In a statement made available to the federation’s media department, NRFF Technical Direstor, Fasimoye Olatunji, Technical Adviser, Bandele Coker and Team Doctor, Bukola Bojuwoye will be part of the 19 man delegation to South Africa.

The delegation which will be led by President of the federation, Edward Pam Fom will leave Lagos on the 8th of November for the tournament slated for the 14th and 15th of November Johannesburg.

Head coach and South African Rugby 7s legend, Fabian Juries and all invited foreign players will join the Local boys in Johannesburg on the 9th for the 5 days training ahead of the qualifiers.

Nigerian Rugby team the Black Stallions,

Nigeria is drawn alongside Zimbabwe, Uganda and Zambia in Pool B.

Full list

Christian OGAR (Cowrie RFC, Prop/Hooker)

Ikechukwu ONWUKANJO (USA Northeast Olympic Academy, Wing/Prop)

Nuhu Ibrahim SAMAILA (Barewa RFC, Scrum half/ Playmaker)

Danjuma MSHELIA (Richmond RFC, UK, Wing)

Alfred OCHE (Jos RFC, Fly half)

Omotohunola ODULAJA (Old Blues RFC, Scrum Half/ Playmaker)

Azeez LADIPO (Cowrie RFC, Fly half/ Playmaker)

Ayomide Joseph MOGAJI (Dorking RFC, Prop/ Wing)

Onoru Oyiza JATTO (Cowrie RFC, Wing)

Samuel EKPO (Cowrie RFC, Prop)

Onyinyeukwu ONWUKANJO (Davenport University Rugby, Prop/Hooker)

Hafis AYINLA (Cowrie RFC, Prop)

ThankGod OKAFOR (Sharks RFC, South Africa, Prop/ Centre)

Standby Player
Emmanuel AKINLUYI (Samurai Midwives, HFW Wailers, Prop/Centre)

Nigeria Rugby Football Federation Sad Over Last Minute Exclusion From AAG.

The President of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation, Sir Edward Pam Fom has expressed surprise at the last minute removal of the sport from events to feature at the 2015 All Africa Games scheduled for Congo next year.

Having already qualified for the games at the qualifiers in faraway Togo, Pam Fom wondered why the organisers allowed participating teams to waste their time and resources to prepare and play the qualifiers when there was no concrete plan for the sport which is fast becoming popular in Africa.

Black Stallions,

In the same vein, the federation’s Vice President and Technical Director, Fasimoye Olatunji, described the exclusion of the sport from the 50th edition of the AAG as a devastating blow for the federation after their 2012 Commonwealth games exclusion on the insistence of the National sports commission and the Nigeria Olympics Commission despite their qualification.

Fasimoye said the federation saw the AAG participation as a proper avenue to prepare for the 2016 Olympics games qualifiers in South Africa later this year and also as a launch pad for the Black Stallions on the international scene.

He finally appealed to all stakeholders who were looking out for the national team‘s participation at the games never to give up over what he described as a “minor setback” in the wheel of progress of the sport in Nigeria promising that nothing will stop the federation from repositioning Rugby in the country.

NRFF Determined To Consolidate On 2014 Achievements

The Nigeria Rugby Football Federation has set all machinery in motion to consolidate the tremendous achievements recorded in 2014.

With the issue of funding being the primary challenge facing most federations in Nigeria, President of the federation, Sir Edward Pam Fom is hopeful that they can hit the ground running in 2015 with the exploration of new terrains through sponsorship from corporate sponsors which will reduce their over-dependence on the National Sports Commission.

Despite his displeasure in the low budget used in executing their programs last year, he hailed the National Sport Commission for their unflinching support in 2014 during preparations of the Black Stallions for international competitions held in Botswana and Zimbabwe. “The Federal Government on their part have tried, I appreciate the efforts of the Director General of the National Sports Commission Honorable Gbenga Elegbeleye, for approving training facilities and putting things in place for the Black Stallions, We had two international outings last year and they were both sponsored by CMB Building Maintenance & Investment Company Limited but the funds used for preparing the 15s and 7s National Teams for these tournaments is yet to be released by NSC.” Fom Pam said.

Speaking further, Fom Pam hinted that the federations have concluded all arrangements to consolidate its different sevens tournaments in 2015 one of which is the independence sevens which was held at the Onikan Stadium last year and was sponsored by CMB Building.

Tunji Fasimoye – VP NRFF,

“We want to maximize our seven series in Nigeria, embark on periodic high performance training which will start in February, we want to do our utmost best to get the best quality out of the players we have onboard.”
Corroborating the President’s declaration, Vice President/Technical Director of the federation, Olatunji Fasimoye revealed that concrete plans are in top gear for a formidable Black Stallions 15s and 7s teams in a bid to give the National team an identity which intending corporate sponsors can easily identify with.

He said the National Teams will no longer be an all-comers affair based on the reports submitted by the Technical committee of the NRFF, which was extensively deliberated upon at the last Annual General Meeting held in Lagos in December 2014.

Black Stallions 7s at the CAR 7s 2014 held in Zimbabwe

“We don’t want to attend international engagement with different squads. We are going to focus on a mix of the home and foreign players, we will keep a pool of around sixty players who will periodically practice together and the national team will be selected from this pool.