Sports
NAN’s Reporter Bags Best Sports Journalist Award
The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Osun State chapter, yesterday presented “Best Sports Journalist Award” to Olajide Idowu of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) for his outstanding contributions and coverage of sporting activities in the state.
Tide Sports source reports that Idowu was honoured with the award at the second edition of Osun SWAN Sports Awards 2018, held at the Atlantis Civic Event Centre in Osogbo.
Mr Adeniyi Adeshina, chief press secretary to Osun Governor, who chaired the event, commended the state SWAN for honouring sports men and women as well as prominent sports personalities and supporters in the state.
Adeshina said the state government would continue to support sports writers to boost sports development as well as uplift grassroot sports in the state.
The Chairman of Osun SWAN, Mr Adeyemi Aboderin, in his address said that the award was organised to appreciate those who are excelling and pushing the cause of sports development.
Aboderin said the award was to encourage the awardees to do more and to also encourage others to get involved in sports development and promotion.
“The awards are to recognise and appreciate those that have excelled and contributed to sports and sport development in Osun.
“It is also to appreciate our own people, sports writers, who had been giving sports adequate coverage and helping sports promotion in the state,” he said
Idowu, the awardee, in his own remark, thanked SWAN for the award and for recognising his works in the area of sport coverage.
He promised to continue to give sports the needed coverage and help promote grassroots sports and sports generally through his reportage.
Tidesports reports that others that bagged awards included: sports athletes, coaches and sports promoters, formal NFF technical director, Dr Bolaji Ojo-Oba, formal Tecnical Director of CAF, Dr Amos Adamu, and Nigerian-American Basketballer, Olumide Oyedeji.
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor
