Sports
Nigeria Doesn’t Need Foreign Technical Director –Amodu
Former Super Eagles coach, Shaibu Amodu, has called on football administrators in the country to shelve the idea of appointing a foreigner as technical director.
Amodu, while speaking with journalists, said the problem with Nigerian football lay in the hands of all stakeholders and “no foreigner is required”.
“The problem of our football rests in our hands and until we become very sincere with ourselves by putting the right person in the right place, we will not get it right.
“Even if we go out 20 times to bring the best foreign coaches or technical directors, it won’t change any situation.
“If the Nigeria Football Association (NFF) has the intention of bringing in a foreign technical director, as it is in the pipeline now, I think it should shelve that idea,” he said.
The association is expected to name a technical director soon and some foreigners have had discussions with officials of the football house.
Amodu said if the association eventually appointed a foreigner, it would amount to disrespect for the numerous experienced Nigerian coaches who are now coaching resource persons.
“I don’t know why they will neglect the coaching resource persons in this country and go out for a foreign technical director.
“That is a measure of lack of respect for all that we have done for our football and that is not being fair.
“I have said it before that we don’t need a foreign person to help the NFA’s Technical Department to right the wrongs of our football.
“The football administrators have to get real down to business to make sure that they put the proper plan in place and put the right people in the right position.
“They will also have to fund the game at the grassroots level and we will begin to get the results”, he said.
The former Super Eagles coach described the NFA’s move as a repetition of history which the country should have learnt from.
“I think what they are trying to do again is a repetition of what we have always done to show more respect to a white man than to a black man.
“As I said some years back, it’s been a problem of inferiority complex on the part of our administrators and I say it’s generic.
“It has repeated itself times without number and each time they want to blindfold Nigerians, they try to bury this foreign person thing around it.
“The psychology seems to be sticky that we think things are going to be right if we see a white person.
“Not until things go wrong again, we begin to say the person was not right for us and he should leave. But he will have no regrets because he must have taken our money already.
“History has not taught us anything as a nation and that is why we keep on making mistakes,” Amodu said.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.
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