Sports
Fans Applaud Keshi’s Removal, Divided Over Amodu
Football fans in Enugu
have commended the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) over the removal of Super Eagles’ interim coach, Stephen Keshi.
The descion was taken last week in Abuja at the first Executive Committee meeting of the association under the newly elected board led by Amaju Pinnick.
The fans said that even though the decision was a bit late, the move was a step in the right direction as that could help to restore the fading glory of the Super Eagles.
A businessman, Promise Ugwu, said the NFA had actually met the yearnings of majority of fans in the country by their action.
Ugwu said the fortunes of the Eagles eventually took a turn for the worse..
A civil servant, Justine Chijioke, said the coach lacked the tactical bite to succeed as head coach of the senior national team.
“Keshi deserved to leave. Whatever the Eagles achieved under him was more of the individual brilliance of some players than his tactical competence,” he said.
Chijioke, however, said the choice of Amodu Shuaibu as interim coach was another wrong move by the association.
“We have tried Amodu again and again and he is not the right person for the team. The team only needs his advice and not as head coach.”
A student of Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Maxwell Nnodi, said: “I am happy over the change of guard in the Eagles’ coaching crew.
“Our prayer is for the team to win their remaining matches so as to qualify for the 2015 AFCON,”
A fashion designer, Kenneth Nwachukwu, said that Shuaibu lacked the modern knowledge to steer the team to glory.
“Sacking Keshi is the right decision, but I don’t think Amodu has the tactical knowledge to handle the team.
“Let us give him a chance and see what he can do in the remaining matches”.
NAN reports that Keshi was relieved of his position as caretaker coach of the Eagles after the 2015 AFCON qualifying reverse match between Nigeria and Sudan, which the Eagles won, 3-1.
The Eagles were beaten in the first encounter 0-1 in Khartoum. The National team now has four points.
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.