Nigerian Football
SPORTS IN NIGERIA: 2017 WAS GOOD, 2018 WILL BE BETTER SAYS DALUNG
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria’s sports minister, Solomon Dalung on Wednesday in Lagos took a retrospective look at sports in Nigeria in the past two years especially that of 2017 and concluded that the country has had its own fair share of laurels.
Decked in his trademark green shirt and red beret, the minister told a gathering of sports journalists at the boardroom of the Nigeria Olympic Committee that the only direction sports in Nigeria faces this year and the years to come is upward.
He made a sport-by-sport analysis, touching on virtually all sports federations and the youth departments of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. In virtually all sports disciplines, Nigeria won medals.
One of the most remarkable ones, according to the comrade-minister is that of the Nigeria women hockey team which had not featured in any international tournament for about 14 years.
“But the team won bronze medal at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ismailia, Egypt last October”, said the minister. The highlights of the address touched on the feats in basket ball where the Nigerian team regained dominance of the sport in Africa.
In scrabble, Nigeria won the best country trophy at the World English Scrabble Championship, while is another lesser-followed sports, Rowing & Yachting, the country got a gold, six silver and five bronze medals at the continental championship in Morocco.
The same was the tale in taekwondo, table tennis, judo and tennis where the Nigerian teams made appreciable impact on the various medal logs.
In badminton, a sport that is fast gaining popularity among Nigerians following a resurgence of tournaments across the country, Nigeria won two bronze medals in mixed and individual events in South Africa, two gold medals at the Cote d’Ivoire tournament, three gold, a silver and two bronze medals at the Benin Republic tournament as well as a bronze at the Uganda Para-Badminton tournament.
Expectedly, football got the most attention, especially the country’s feat of being undefeated on the field of play throughout the World Cup qualifying series.
The Super Eagles qualified in a power-packed group, even with a match to spare. The feats of the Super Eagles’ B team in picking a ticket to the African Nations Championship as well as emerging runners-up in the resuscitated WAFU tournament were commended by the sports minister.
He also mentioned individual feats, especially the successes of various Nigerians at gaining membership in various international sports federations. The year was a bountiful harvest for the country, he remarked as virtually in every sport federation Nigerians made inroad.
He particularly commended the feat of Amaju Pinnick, the Nigerian Football Federation chieftain, who not only won election into CAF Executive Committee, but wielded much influence in global football.
“In football, Nigeria made a lot of progress both on and off the pitch. These include: The appointment of Amaju Pinnick, President of the NFF as President of AFCON, the committee responsible for the organisation of the Africa Cup of Nations as well as a Member of the Organizing Committee for FIFA Competitions – the most influential committee in world football after the FIFA Council”, said the sports minister who apart from commending the inclusion of other Nigerians in CAF committees also pointed at the appointment of Justice Ayotunde Philips (a former Chief Judge of Lagos State) into the FIFA Ethics Committee (Adjudicatory Chamber).
The Nigeria U17 women’s team has been given incentives to make it to the Women’s World Cup for the eighth time.
The team, Flamingos, who arrived in Algiers in the early hours of Wednesday aboard a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul, are highly inspired by the imminence of another FIFA World Cup ticket as well as further financial windfall from the Nigeria Football Federation and billionaire business mogul Kunle Soname.
Soname gifted the young players and their officials the sum of N4 million (one million naira for every goal) following their commanding win over the North Africans at the Remo Stars Stadium on Saturday, while the NFF gave out the sum of N2 million (five hundred thousand naira for every goal).
President of NFF, Ibrahim Musa Gusau and Soname have both confirmed that the same financial incentives are in place for the second leg in Blida on Friday.
“Our objective is clear – to win the FIFA World Cup ticket. That is the big motivation.
“Yet, we have been further incentivised by the monetary rewards. My girls will go all out on Friday night,” Head Coach Bankole Olowookere said.
Olowookere, who led the Flamingos to their last two World Cup ventures, will most likely rely on first-leg two-goal heroine Queen Joseph, lone-goal scorer Zainab Raji and Kaosarat Olanrewaju to start at the fore, with Shakirat Moshood, Muinat Rotimi and Philomena Isaiah supplying the passes from the midfield.
Goalkeeper and captain Christiana Uzoma and defenders Azeezat Oduntan, Hannah Ibrahim, Christiana Sunday and Jumai Adebayo are also likely to start.
The Confederation of African Football has selected Cameroonian official Marie Noelle Etong to be the referee, with her compatriots Marcelle Teikeu and Innocentia Ntangti as assistant referee 1 and fourth official, respectively, while Chadian Ngarassoum Victorine will be assistant referee 2.
Oumou Souleymane Kane from Mauritania will be the commissioner, and Sabelo Maphosa-Sibindi from Zimbabwe will be in the role of referee assessor.
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Former president of the initially 15-member West African Football Union (WAFU), Chief Jonathan Boytie Ogufere, has expressed his heartfelt condolences over the recent death of former national team captain and coach, Christian ‘Chairman’ Chukwu.
He remarked that the erstwhile Enugu Rangers’ defence stalwart will ‘be dearly missed’. In a personally signed letter of condolence, Ogufere described Chukwu, who died on Saturday, April 12, in Enugu after a brief illness at 74, as a ‘hero of our time and a friend’.
The nonagenarian recalled with nostalgia how he nearly recruited the young Chukwu for his P & T Vasco da Gama Football Club of Enugu, adding he was impressed with how the ‘Field Marshal Christian Chukwuemeka ‘Chairman ‘ Chukwu (MFR), conducted himself throughout his career as he led both the national team, the then Green Eagles and his beloved Enugu Rangers to many conquests.
“I join numerous others to mourn the transition of the legendary Christian Chukwu, a hero of our time and friend,” the Ugbugba of Okpe Kingdom wrote.
“As one of the young academicals discovered after the end of the Civil War in 1970, I tried to enlist into my club, the P & T Vasco da Gama Football Club of Enugu but he was fair and frank in informing me that he had already joined Enugu Ranges Football Club, and I respected that attitude. From the rivalries between the two clubs, his exploits as a central defender were very visible.”
He continued: “Christian Chukwu emerged at the national level as a trustworthy and formidable captain of the national team who led by example.
“He was one of the heroes during the Golden age of Nigerian football when I was one of the Board Members of the Nigeria Football Association under the chairmanship of Chief Sunday Dankaro as Nigeria won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1980 for the first time where Christian Chukwu as captain of the Green Eagles was declared the best player of the tournament. He led the national team in several battles, which endeared him to millions of football lovers.
“After his playing days, he showed his talents through coaching in Nigeria and abroad.
“I express my sincere condolences to the family he left behind, the football family and the country in general. He will be dearly missed.
“May the good Lord grant his noble soul eternal rest,” he noted.
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Remo Stars are coasting to what will be their greatest moment ever, a win of the Nigeria Premier Football League title, as they recorded a 1-0 win over Shooting Stars in Ibadan in a match played behind closed doors.
In doing so, they achieved their sixth double of the season, having earlier beaten Shooting Stars in the first stanza of the league.
They maintained the seven-point lead over second-placed Rivers United, who also beat Sunshine Stars 1-0 in Port Harcourt.
After a ding-dong affair, Alex Oyowah scored the vital goal for Remo Stars from a right-wing cross from Ismail Sodiq.
In another match, Ikorodu City continued to work tenaciously to obtain a continental ticket as they held El Kanemi to a 1-1 draw.
SUNDAY RESULTS
- El Kanemi 1-1 Ikorodu City
- Niger Tornados 1-1 Bayelsa United
- Heartland 0-0 Kwara United
- Plateau United 1-0 Akwa United
- Rivers United 1-0 Sunshine Stars
- Shooting Stars 0-1 Remo Stars
- Bendel United 1-1 Nasarawa United
SATURDAY
- Katsina United 0-0 Abia Warriors
- Enyimba 2-1 Kano Pillars
- Lobi Stars 2-4 Enugu Rangers
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