Sports
NFF Okays Protect Goal Initiative Campaign
The Nigeria Football Fed
eration (NFF) has registered its support for a new HIV awareness initiative tagged ‘Protect the Goal’ campaign.
NFF President, Aminu Maigari, has joined President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, Vice President Namadi Sambo, and Secretary to Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Sports Minister, Dr. Tammy Danagogo and other prominent Nigerians in endorsing the campaign.
The event, which took place at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, underscored Nigeria’s support for the programme, which aims at zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.
Put together by the National Agency for Control of Aids (NACA), the campaign has as partners the UNAIDS, UNFPA, the National Sports Commission and the Nigeria Football Federation.
At the event, President Jonathan acknowledged the power of sport for social change, adding that he had long been at the forefront of campaigns against the spread of HIV.
“Sports, especially football has immense unifying power. Even before becoming the President, I have been involved in the fight against the AIDS scourge,” the President said.
“The Super Eagles of Nigeria will be the Ambassadors for this campaign. We are with the team and will support them to bring glory to Nigeria and the whole of Africa at the FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil.”
Concurring with the President, Maigari agreed that football is a good tool with which to drive home the message.
“Football is a potent weapon to drive messages universally, to make a point and to unify peoples across regions and religions,” the NFF President said.
“On our part, we have decided to align with this United Nations initiative and also with the Nigerian vision of zero new infections and to encourage testing at the various testing sites set up during this period.”
Djibril Diallo who represented the Executive Director of UNAIDS at the programme, invited President Jonathan to the campaign’s big launch in Salvador du Bahia, Brazil on June 9, and then presented the ball for the President to sign. The same ball had earlier been signed by Presidents Jacob Zuma and Paul Biya of South Africa and Cameroon respectively.
The ball will move across the different continents to be signed by Presidents and Prime Ministers of all 32 nation taking part in the World Cup finals, but Diallo said: “The Super Eagles are the faces of the campaign, because they are first among equals!”
Also at the event were Super Eagles’ stars Azubuike Egwuekwe and Ejike Uzoenyi. They were later joined at the press conference that followed at the National Stadium, by Super Falcons’ captain, Evelyn Nwabuoku.
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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