The Youth and Sports minister Barrister Solomon Dalung says the National Sports Commission has a role to play in the new sports architecture of Nigeria being proposed to move sports forward. The minister made this known on an NTA Network Programme, Tuesday Live while responding to questions on the scrapping of the National Sports Commission. […]
via DALUNG PROPOSES NEW ARCHITECTURE FOR NIGERIA’s SPORTS — newfanzoneblog
Nigeria men’s team began their campaigns in Group F of the men’s event at the ongoing ITTF World Team Championship with a 3-0 bashing of Turkey.
The trio of Segun Toriola, Aruna Quadri and Bode Abiodun claimed a comfortable 3-0 victory over Turkish trio of Gencay Menge, Ibrahim Gunduz and Batuhan Ulucak.
The Nigerian side were calm against the youthful Europeans to begin their quest for promotion to the elite division on a good note.
However, Nigeria will face their biggest foe in the group – India on Monday, which is a repeat of the bronze medal tie of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
A match the captain of the Indian side, Sharath Achanta has tagged ‘crucial’.
Meanwhile, Nigerian women team risk demotion after the team failed to make it to the tournament in Kuala Lumpur over the inability of the National Sports Commission (NSC) to fund the trip to Malaysia while their men’s team had to sponsor themselves to be part of the championship.
The Nigeria Football Federation has commiserated with the National Sports Commission over the death, last Friday, of a deputy director in the NSC’s Federations and Elite Athletes Departments, Mr. Olu Akoja.
Akoja died at the National Hospital, Abuja on Friday from complications that followed a medical operation.
NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, led the NFF team that included Dr. Emmanuel Ikpeme (Deputy General Secretary), Mr. Bola Oyeyode (Ag. Director, Competitions), Mr. Ademola Olajire (Asst. Director, Communications), Mr. Abdulrafiu Yusuf (Asst. Director, Technical), Barr. Okey Obi (Chief Legal Officer), Mr. Nasiru Jibril (personal assistant to NFF President) and Daniel Musa (security officer). They were received by the Director of Federations and Elite Athletes Department, Mrs Hauwa Kulu-Akinyemi.
Sanusi said: “We have come to express our sorrow over the death of Mr. Akoja. He was known to be very hardworking and a gentleman to the core. Allah knows best. We pray that God will be the father, Provider and Protector of those he has left behind, and also that He will grant the family and the National Sports Commission the fortitude to bear the big loss.”
Kulu-Akinyemi, who confessed that she is still finding it difficult to come to terms with the fact that Akoja was gone, thanked the NFF delegation for the condolence visit.
“Akoja’s death is most shocking. We still find it difficult to believe. The Almighty God has an answer for everything, so we would have to accept it that way. He was a very energetic and efficient person who loved to take on even greater responsibilities. The NSC and Nigeria sports will sorely miss him.”
President, Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Wahid Oshodi believes with more support from the National Sports Commission (NSC) coupled with the efforts being made by the federation, more stars like 2014 ITTF Star Player, Aruna Quadri can be groomed to become world beaters. Excerpts
What is your assessment of 2015?
I think 2015 for table tennis was quite good in terms of what the Federation and players achieved taking into consideration the financial constraints that we faced. The lack of funding generally meant we could not attend some important events like the African juniors in Mauritius and the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships in India. But overall Taking into consideration our performances at the events we attended we did quite well and we continue to move in the right direction.
What are the objectives in 2016?
I think our focus in 2016 as in 2015 is that we must continue to develop the junior and cadet players. We must give our most talented young players the right atmosphere for them to grow. This of course means giving them the best coaching and affording them the opportunity to play in tournaments internationally so we can assess how well they are doing against the best young players in the world. We have done quite well in this regard in the last two years but there are a lot more gifted players all over the country and we must do our best to discover and harness them. We hope to be able to create new tournaments outside Lagos and Abuja. If we can find the right partnerships with the private sector this will assist greatly in boosting the spread of the game all over the country. It is also important to get the best of our senior players playing on the world tour and assist them to find the funding to ensure that they can train in the best academies in Europe and Asia with the top players in the world. We must continue to expose our coaches alongside the players. This is an area that is very critical. We must develop our Nigerian coaches but they must also be willing to accept that they need the knowledge. The sport of table tennis is one that is developing so quickly. The styles have moved on from what we know in Nigeria. It is faster and more physically demanding. Our coaches need to take this on board.
What has been the challenge of table tennis?
Lack of funding is the major problem we have. We have designed programmes for our junior and senior players but we just can’t find enough money to back up our plans. Where we can’t even get funding to attend many continental events we will naturally start to lag behind other countries. It is very difficult to operate in this conditions and gives one a lot to think about with regards to the way other sports bar football are being funded in this country. It is amusing when the sports loving public ask questions about how well we are doing. The question really should be how well are we being equipped to do well. I must continuously thank some of our board members and our friends in table tennis who personally support the players to buy equipment and attend tournaments. Without them table tennis would be dead in Nigeria. The Lagos State Government has also been quite supportive in terms of putting their infrastructure at our disposal and it is support like this that we need. We need good consistent funding to achieve our goals.
This is an Olympic year and what is going to be the preparation of the team for Brazil?
As we speak now two players (Aruna Quadri and Funke Oshonaike) have qualified for the Olympics and we expect Segun Toriola and Edem Offiong to qualify at the Qualifying tournament in Sudan. Only two male and two female players can qualify from each country. The players working with their Coaches have already sent in their proposed programmes but it will come down to money. The 2016 Olympic table tennis tournament is structured in such a way that we realistically can aspire for a medal because the gap between players like Aruna, Segun and the best Chinese players is quite marginal. Playing well on your day with the right preparation I am confident that we can beat anybody in a straight knockout competition. You have to remember that Aruna was the world player of the year in 2014. He has a big reputation and he is one of the strongest players in the world as we speak. With the right preparation which really means support from the NSC and Ministry of Sports we can do well. The Schlaeger academy (the foremost table tennis academy in the world) in Austria has offered us their facilities including Coaching at a heavily subsidised rate to assist our players and Coaches both at the senior and junior levels. This kind of training programme is what makes the difference between champions and also rans. I hope we will be able to fund it.
There seems to be falling standard of female players and what is the plan of NTTF to address this?
This is a problem that has been around for a long while. We have not been replacing our top players and not enough female players are coming through. Currently our junior and cadet programme is designed for boys and girls. I am sure in a few years we will see the fruits of this programme. If you take out our top eight to ten female players, the standard falls short of what we require for players to represent the country. Our strongholds for female table tennis are mainly Cross Rivers Lagos Oyo and Ogun. We need them to assist the federation by helping us discover more raw talents that we can then groom. But the truth is that these states themselves need more support in terms of equipment and funding. It is a problem but the Federation is doing its best to address it. Furthermore it was pleasant to see our number one player Edem Offiong returning to magnificent form at the All African Games alongside the old war horse Funke Oshonaike. They serve as inspiration to the younger ones coming. We also need to work with someone like Funke and other older players who have achieved so much in ensuring that they impart their knowledge to the younger ones coming up.
Funke is going for her sixth Olympics and that is such sterling effort which we hope we can use to galvanize and courage the younger ones. We also need to encourage people like Richard Edem our top female Coach from Cross Rivers state to continue to produce the much needed talent. People like this also need to be encouraged by the Federal Government when granting national honors and awards. These coaches and players who work hard at the grassroots and discover players who have brought honour to our country over and over again are the people who truly deserve these awards. When the National sports Commission and Mjnistry of Sports are forwarding names it would be good if they remember that there are other sports apart from football. These other sports are the ones that contribute to Nigeria’s success at major continental and world multi medal sporting events. It really is a sad commentary that so many great sportsmen and women have been overlooked in the award of Honours
What are the major tournaments in 2016?
Well for us the major tournaments are the AFRICA Top 16 which serves as Africa’s qualifier for the World Cup and Olympic Qualifiers in February in Sudan. The World team Championships in Malaysia in February will take on greater importance this year because the highest ranked African team would likely take Africa’s only slot in the Olympic team event. We are currently neck and neck with Egypt so we need to play very well there. Of course the 4th edition of the Lagos (Nigeria) International Open holds in May before the players go into their final phase of training for the Olympics. There is also the African Championships later in the year. Also in line with our focus we intend to host the National Senior Junior and Cadet Championship at the end of the first quarter of the year so the best players in this tournaments can earn slots in the Lagos International Open.
There are also quite a number of junior and cadet tournaments in Africa and the Middle East which I feel we must take our best young players to so we can further their development. It is a busy year. On the home front we have to find the funds to continue with our much needed developmental programmes and the National League. It is through this events that we can find the talent that our sport needs. We must also find a way to support the states in the areas of development especially at the school level.
With all serious-minded Federation already taking stock of 2015 and planning for 2016, the Vice President of the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation, Olatunji Fasimoye says better times await the federation next year.
Speaking over the weekend in an interactive session with journalists, he said after several meetings between the President of the Federation, Sir Edward Fom Pam and the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Alhassan Yakmut, there are indications that the NSC will pay a better attention to rugby next year.
In his words, “The President of the federation is actually in talks with the DG and I think there is hope because the DG has shown more interest in Rugby.”
We hope by next year, they will invest more in rugby for us to take our position on the world map.
He appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the new Minister of Youth and Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung considering his recent actions in office.
Fasimoye who is an astute administrator in the private sector revealed that the minister who is not up to two months in office should not be expected to perform miracles immediately as there is need for him to consult with likeminded stakeholders before making moves.
He also mentioned that the CMB Sponsored league department of the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation has concluded plans to host the Super cup this December as to determine the ultimate champion for the 2014/2015 league season. With the 2014/2015 already ended and Cowrie Rugby Football Club of Lagos and Barewa RFC of Kano emerging champions of their regional leagues, there is a need to know the national champion.
Despite the venue for the annual championship not yet finalized, Abuja and Lagos are presently in the early lead to host the event.
He assured that come 2016, the leagues will kick off and with all programmes also resuming in earnest.
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.
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.
The president, Wheelchair Basketball Federation of Nigeria, Bukola Olopade has been elected vice president,International Wheelchair Basketball Africa.
Olopade, the former commissioner for youth and Sport in Ogun State was elected unopposed when his opponent stepped down claiming the positive contribution of the Nigerian representative to the development of the game in Nigeria was responsible for his decision to step down. The election was held In Algeria Thursday during the ongoing 12th edition if the Africa Wheelchair Basketball competition.
An elated Olopade while speaking from Algeria by phone having expressed his happiness for the victory said he was willing to help contribute to the growth of the game on the continent and beyond attributed the success of the federation to the grand patron of the federation Sir Victor Ochei, the former Speaker, Delta State house of Assembly for believing in the ability of the board members and for his sponsorship of the annual championship of the federation in the last four years.
Olopade further expressed optimism that the female national team at the on going Africa Wheelchair basketball competition will pick the 2016 Olympic tickets having won two of their matches and are likely to play in the final of the competition this weekend.
“I want to expresses appreciation to our grand patron and the National Sport Commission for this feat which is a glory to Nigeria having been elected Vice President, International Wheelchair Basketball Africa and I want to assure that the game will improve beyond the continent”, he said.
The annual Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation (CCSF) International Taekwondo Opens may become a World Taekwondo Federation may (WTF) Grade 1 event in 2016.
With this status, the tournament would become a point hauling event for athletes across the globe as taekwondists are expected to use the tournament to up their world ranking.
Being the first tournament in Africa to use the electronic head gear, the CCSF championship has continued to attract the best fighters on the continent with countries like Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger Republic, Togo, Cameroun and Senegal taking part in this year’s tournament.
Efforts are on by the organizers of the CCSF Open to apply for the status from the world taekwondo ruling body.
![Mali’s Golden Star, Karamoko Soumare, stands heads above Silver Medallist, Temitope Oyo [Nigeria National Team] and Bronze Medallists, Sunday Onofe [Nigeria National Team] and [MALI] during the medal ceremony for the +80kg category at the just concluded 3rd CCSF Opens](https://finixsports.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/mali_s-golden-star-karamoko-soumare-stands-heads-above-silver-medallist-temitope-oyo-nigeria-national-team-and-bronze-medallists-sunday-onofe-nigeria-national-team-and-mali-e1446672548870.jpg)
For the best athlete of this year’s tournament, Mali’s Karamoko Soumare (+80kg), attending the tournament has really exposed him to world class equipment which would aid him in subsequent tournaments.
“Having attended series of tournament across Africa, I realized that CCSF tournament stands out in terms of organization and quality of equipment. The atmosphere was also superb. Being my first time of taking part in the competition, I think the knowledge I acquired would be helpful to me in other international tournaments and I look forward to taking part in more CCSF tourneys,” the Malian star said.
Soumare who won gold in the men’s heavyweight category believes the quality of athletes in Nigeria is enormous while blaming their under-achievement on lack of exposure of most of their athletes. “I respect Nigerian athletes particularly with the pedigree of their athletes, but they have not been able to use this to their advantage at international tournaments. We attend a lot of international tournaments but I hardly see Nigerians competing and this has really affected their rating globally. But attending international competition is vital for any nation to improve her athletes,” he added.
Also silver medalist at the CCSF Opens, Cameroun’s Kamgue Silvre hailed the organizers for putting the colourful tournament together, which he described as a world class championship. “I am surprised with the quality of organization as well as the atmosphere which is of international standard. I am indeed looking forward to the next edition because I have been able to up my skills as well as improve my rating among the best fighters in Africa. Winning silver will surely improve my chance of representing my country at the Olympics qualifiers come 2016. When the tournament gets the WTF G-1 rating, I believe more athletes within and outside Africa will be part of the tournament,” Kamgue, winner of the fair play award said.
Impressed with the ingenuity and immense contribution of Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation (CCSF) to taekwondo development and promotion, the National Sports Commission (NSC) has promised to enter into a four-year strategic partnership with the foundation.
However, the 3rd CCSF International Taekwondo Open witnessed a large turnout of athletes across the continent with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) dominating the eight events competed for at the two-day championship.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the championship held at the Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, Director General of NSC, Alhassan Yakmut said with what CCSF has been doing in terms of its programmes, it is clear that the foundation’s has been able to champion the ideals of the commission.
“I am convinced beyond any doubt that CCSF has done a lot to promote and develop taekwondo in Nigeria. For us at the NSC, we want to partner organizations like this because they are doing things that are in line with our vision. The atmosphere at this year’s tournament is what obtains globally in terms of international standard and I don’t think any reasonable person will not be impressed with what they have seen here tonight. Apart from the tournament, they have had workshops and other developmental activities to support the upcoming athletes. With this, NSC will be entering into a four-year strategic partnership with CCSF to champion the development and promotion of taekwondo which is an Olympic sport in Nigeria. So from 2016, the collaboration will take off with NSC fully supporting the foundation in all its activities,” Alhassan said.
After two days of competitive action, NSCDC confirmed why it is committed to sports in Nigeria when its athletes dominated the medals table at the 3rd CCSF Open concluded at the weekend.
NSCDC amassed four gold, one silver and four bronze medals to beat Mali and Niger Republic to second and third places on the medal table.
Mali again showed why it remains of the taekwondo power house in Africa when the two inspired by Soumare Karamoko won two gold and two bronze medals while Niger Republic won same number of gold with one silver and one bronze medals.
From the 284 athletes that featured in the competition which has the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF)-certified referees handling proceedings, Mali’s Karamoko was voted the best male athlete while NSCDC’s Chinazum Nwosu won the best female diadem.
Cameroun’s sole representative who fought his way into the final in the men’s -80kg to clinch silver medal won the fair play award for his sportsmanship during the final match, which he lost to NSCDC’s Segun Olushola. Youthful Thursdaline Peter was adjudged the most outstanding referee of the championship.
At an interactive session with Journalists in Ilorin for the University of Ilorin 21km Marathon Race, the Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Alhassan Yakmut, offered words of commendation to the leadership of the League Management Company (LMC) which is led by Mallam Shehu Dikko for the improvements in the domestic league, the Nigeria Professional Football League.
According to Mr. Alloy Chukwuemeka, the Acting Secretary of the Club Owners and Managers Association, the NSC DG said that the LMC has brought and engendered some positive strides to the league and as also brought sanity to the management of the football league in the country.
Yakmut spoke on Tuesday on a wide range of issues on the development of sports in Nigeria and maintained that the LMC had taken the players welfare seriously, they have also reduced the desperation of teams seeking to win the league at all cost.
He was quoted as saying, “I am very jealous of the Nigeria Professional Football League under Shehu Dikko because they have broken some of my records”
“I can see the determination for innovation, I can see the determination to confront elements that are trying to set the clock of development of the League backward”
“I think generally the NPFL is on the right path of development” Yakmut concluded.
Yakut was once an Executive Secretary of the defunct Nigeria Premier league (NPL) and he was of the view that what needs to be addressed towards perfecting the league structure is the matter of government’s involvement in club ownership. He suggested that state governments who own clubs should be considering divesting and involve individuals and corporate organizations through subscription.
“We must commercialise our clubs such that government can only own some stake or buy shares into teams but not full ownership of it. Until this is done, our clubs will continue to be an extension of public agency” Yakmut argued.
Nigeria’s quartet of Francis Chukwuemeka, Ahmed Owolabi Koleosho, Emmanuel Chinedu Nick and Faith Obiora will continue their quest for places in the Rio 2016 Paralympics Games at the ongoing 2015 African Para Table Tennis Championships.
The three-day Paralympics qualifiers have players across the world aiming for their spots in various classes.
The Nigerian team sponsored by the National Sports Commission (NSC) is coached by Njoku Chiwedu with winners in each class securing automatic qualification to Rio 2016 Paralympics Games.
For the handler of the team, getting the spots remains the aim of the team. “We want to qualify for the Paralympic Games”, stressed Chiwedu. “There are many countries competing here, we have tough opponents, I guess Morocco is our biggest opponent but I guess we can make it and win more titles.”
Meanwhile, France-based Chukwuemeka added to his medal haul at the 1st Morocco Para Table Tennis Open after combining with Romania’s Bobi Simion in class 6-10 to win gold medal in the men’s team event.
But it was not same story for the duo of Koleosho and Nick as the Nigerians had to settle for silver in the men’s class 1-5 after losing 2-0 to Brazil’s Welder Knaf and Venezuela’s Edson Joel Gomez Sanchez in the final.
Prior to his triumph in the team event, Chukwuemeka clinched the title in the Men’s Singles Class 9-10, while his Romanian partner had also claimed the gold medal in Class 6-8.
Koleosho and Nick did not lose without any fight as the contest was closer than the overall result might suggest. But it was the South Americans that emerged victorious ahead of the Nigerians.
Former Nigerian international, Segun Odegbami, has protested against the criteria set by the Nigeria Football Federation for nomination of a candidate for FIFA presidential election.
NFF had said that a prospective candidate must obtain endorsements from their state Football Associations, the National Sports Commission and the Confederation of African Football.
But Odegbami in a letter addressed to the federation President, Amaju Pinnick, and copied to Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari, the FIFA General Secretary, Jerome Valcke and CAF President, Issa Hayatou, described the endorsements from the NSC and CAF as unnecessary.
Odegbami describes the conditions as odd and a product of a lack of familiarity with the guidelines for the FIFA presidential elections.
“Why will amaju tell me to go and meet amos adamu or issa hayatou for endorsement, amaju does not like my bid or support my bid to become the president of fifa, probably because have played the game before, two weeks after my declaration amaju hasnt called me, I sat down with him and i told him about my plans to run for the fifa presidency, at first he said it was good but later he told me he was going to speak to some other federation heads to support me, i later heard him on tv saying i should go meet some people for endorsement.”
The former Nigerian forward, who scored 23 goals in 46 matches for the national team. On retirement, he has served as an administrator, educator, writer, international media personality and as Sports Ambassador of Nigeria.
The deadline for candidates to formally present their nominations through their home federations, with other supporting documents, is October 26. Candidates will also undergo an integrity test, through FIFA’s ad-hoc election committee.
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