Nigerian Football
Nigeria’s Sports Minister hails Soname’s vision in sports investment
The huge investment in sports by the President of Remo Stars, Kunle Soname has received a ravishing applause from the Nigerian sports minister, Senator John Enoh. The minister on Saturday visited the state of the art facilities which Soname had put up in his home town Ikenne.
The facilities house the current Nigeria Premier League table toppers, Remo Stars as well as the women’s team and Beyond Limit Football Academy which products are excelling in both academics and in football.
Soname informed the minister that at the last West African School Certificate examination, 16 of the academy’s final year students made six credits and above. Some of the products of Beyond Limits Football Academy are making waves in top European Leagues. For instance, Ebenezer Akinsanmiro is in Inter Milan.
The Sports Minister inspected the facilities which include an all-covered football stadium, lush green turfs in different forms ranging from natural grass to hybrid artificial grass, office complexes and residential buildings with 56 rooms for junior and senior players and accommodating 112 footballers.
The complex also has five semi-detached blocks of 10 units, two bedroom coaches accommodation, a restaurant for players and officials as well as an administrative block comprising of offices, conference room, training classroom and reception. The office block is equipped with panoramic lift to first-floor which is the table tennis centre.
Others facilities include a gym, clinic, swimming pool, hydrotherapy chamber and a 30-room hotel with panoramic lift. Also at the model arena is a tournament pitch with 10,000 capacity covered pavilions, three training pitches, 2,000 capacity car parks and good internal road.
Impressed by what he saw, Enoh, who is the first sports minister to ever visit the facilities, expressed his admiration.
He commended the self-effacing businessman, whose airline, ValueJet ferried the Super Eagles to their last World Cup qualifying match in Rwanda.
Enoh emphasized the crucial role of private investment in the growth and sustainability of sports in the country.
He lauded Remo Stars as a shining example of a privately-owned sports entity that is making significant strides in elevating the standards of football in Nigeria. “The government alone cannot carry the weight of sports development, and that is why we need more private investors to float outfits like Remo Stars Football Club.
“I am impressed by the commitment of Hon. Kunle Soname and his team, and I assure you that the Ministry of Sports Development will actively encourage and support private investment in sports across the nation.”
Kunle Soname expressed gratitude for the Minister’s visit and reiterated the club’s commitment to contributing to the overall development of sports in Nigeria.
“Our facilities are open to junior national teams for camping of players any time the football federation feel we can be of help.” It will be recalled that in the past, the Super Eagles spent so much dollars and euros paying for similar facilities at Papendal in The Netherlands and Hôtel Sol Béni in Cote d’Ivoire.
The miserable run of Akwa United and Ikorodu City came to an end after six games in the Nigerian Premier League this season. Both teams were initially glued at the bottom of the league table.
They now got respite as Akwa United beat Kano Pillar by 2-0 while Ikorodu City even did what could be considered an upset, beating Bendel Insurance 3-0.
Remo Stars bounced back to the top of the log after a 3-0 defeat of Nasarawa United. Shooting Stars are yet to get their rhythm this season, playing a barren draw with Enyimba in Ibadan.
Kwara United who got their first full points of the season last week after a 1-0 defeat of Remo Stars could not consolidate as they were beaten 1-0 by Abia Warriors.
Heartland under Emmanuel Amuneke are gradually recovering as they got a valuable away draw against El-Kanemi Warriors.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
It is 75 years since Nigeria’s national football team first played an international match. That was on 8 October 1949 when the first set of Nigeria’s assembly on their return voyage stopped over in Freetown and engaged Sierra Leone in an international football match. Nigeria won 2-0, setting a chain of positive results on 8 October.
The country never lost any competitive duel on that date. More significantly, the Super Eagles first qualified for the World Cup on an 8 October date.
That was in 1993 when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Algeria in the quest for USA ‘94 World Cup.
Nigeria became the first English-speaking African country to qualify for the World Cup. Another significance of the October 8 match at the July 5 Stadium, Algiers is that Nigeria were unbeaten for the first time by Algeria at home.
The only deviation from the 8 October Magic was in 2015 when Nigeria lost 2-0 to Congo in a friendly match.
Twenty-six years after Nigeria’s debut international match, one of Africa’s biggest football nations, Egypt fell to the October 8 magic, losing 4-0 to Nigeria in the last stage of the triangular World Cup qualifying series for Argentina ’78.
Up till October 15, 2013, when Ghana beat Egypt 6-1 in Kumasi, the October 8, 1977 duel with Nigeria remained Egypt’s biggest loss in a World Cup qualifying match.
Before the 1977 duel, Nigeria in 1963 played a friendly match with Liberia in Monrovia. The October 8 magic was active, even in an away match. Nigeria drew 2-2 in their very first encounter with Liberia. It was shortly after the team had, through a protest, upturned a victory by Guinea to pick Nigeria’s very first African Nations’ Cup ticket.
Little wonder then that when FIFA suspended Nigeria in 2010, the world governing body provisionally lifted the ban on October 8!
Nigeria on 8 October
- 1949 – Freetown (Friendly) Sierra Leone 0-2 Nigeria
- 1963 – Monrovia (Friendly) Liberia 2-2 Nigeria
- 1977 – Lagos (World Cup qualifier) Nigeria 4-0 Egypt
- 1993 – Algiers (World Cup qualifier) Algeria 1-1 Nigeria… qualify for USA ‘94.
- 2005 – Abuja (World Cup qualifier) Nigeria 5-1 Zimbabwe
- 2010 – FIFA, in apparent respect to the 8 October magic, provisionally lifted a ban imposed on Nigeria.
- 2011 – Abuja (African Nations Cup qualifier) Nigeria 2-2 Guinea. Although undefeated, Nigeria failed to make it to the 2012 African Nations Cup.
- 2015 – D.R. Congo beat Nigeria 2-0 in Visé, Belgium. The ‘October 8 Magic’ is finally broken.
Rivers United have launched themselves to the top of the log at the end of the match day 5 of the Nigeria Premier League. The Port Harcourt side beat Akwa United 2-1 to go afloat after initial leaders, Remo Stars crumbled to a 1-0 defeat at Kwara United in Ilorin on Sunday.
It was Remo Stars’ first defeat in the season. Rivers United are now with 13 points. Stephen Mayo put Rivers United ahead after 31 minutes. But it turned a temporary lead as Akwa United bounced back almost at the blast of the referee’s whistle for the second half.
Friday Apollos levelled up for Akwa United before Ndifreke Effiong Udo scored the winner in the 85th minute.
Sunday Results
- Kwara United 1-0 Remo Stars
- Rangers International 1-0 Abia Warriors
- Heartland FC 2-0 Niger Tornadoes
- Kano Pillars 2-0 Sunshine Stars
- Plateau United 1-0 Ikorodu City
- Rivers United 2-1 Akwa United
- Enyimba 3-0 Katsina United* Suspended
- Nasarawa 0-0 Bayelsa United
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