Sports
Senate Passes Vote Of Confidence On Keshi
The Senate yesterday in Abuja passed a vote of confidence on Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, the team’s technical crew, and Nigerian coaches.
The senators gave the Super Eagles a standing ovation and congratulated them for making the country proud by winning the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The resolution was sequel to a motion on the country’s glorious outing at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) moved by the Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu.
The motion was unanimously supported by the senators, who spoke glowingly about the spectacular performance of the Super Eagles on their way to emerging as Africa’s champions.
Senate President David Mark said the exploits of indigenous sports talents must be appreciated and encouraged in order for the country to achieve more excellence.
Mark said the achievement of the current crop of Super Eagles’ players was enough for “our sports administrators to believe in our indigenous coaches and players’’.
“We need to have faith in ourselves, because if we don’t believe in ourselves, we cannot make progress.
“Even if we have all the facilities and the funds, if we don’t have faith in ourselves, we cannot make progress.
“Keshi has demonstrated the need for Nigerians to have faith in themselves both in our own coaches and in our players.
He advised sports administrators to desist from interfering with the work of coaches appointed to “handle our sport teams, because such attitude will not help the country’s sports development’’.
Mark said Keshi’s purported resignation was due to his opposition to plan by the Sports Ministry to hire a foreigner to head the Super Eagles’ technical crew.
He described the interference by sports administrators in the running of the national teams as “unhealthy and counter-productive’’ to the achievement of good results in international sports.
The Senate President urged the senators to prevail on Keshi not to resign his appointment at a time when the country needed his services most to nurture the array of talents under him.
“Stephen Keshi confirmed to me this morning that he actually said that he has resigned due to interference by administrators and plans to hire a foreign technical adviser.
“He said the reason was because there was too much interference and that even before the final match on Sunday, a lot of pressure was mounted on him to accept a foreign technical adviser.
“Keshi said he was opposed to the plan, because there were Nigerians, who could work with him, and that he did not see the gain in bringing foreigners,’’ Mark said.
“Once we give the team to him to manage, we should give him the free hand to manage it.
“Once we begin to meddle in the way he is going to run and manage the team, then, we cannot get results.
“Once we give him the task, we should give him the free hand to accomplish the task,’’ Mark added.
He also decried the over dependence on government for funding of sports, saying that it was inimical to the growth and progress of the sector.
“The procedure for getting fund out is not easy. It’s not straight forward. If government gives you fund, there will be middlemen, who will administer it,’’ the Senate president said.
Our correspondent reports that the Senate urged the Federal Government to reward the team and their handlers by conferring befitting national honours on them and naming streets after them in their states of origin.
It also urged Keshi not to resign his appointment as head coach of the Super Eagles.
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.
