General Ishola Williams (Rtd) is credited to be the  man who introduced baseball to Nigeria in 1989 in Minna when he brought some instructors from the US. He was the first National Chairman of the Nigeria Baseball & Softball Association.

 Ishola who has a knack for the development of baseball and other sports in Nigeria was at the just concluded Baseball5 Western Regional championship at the NIS Sports Complex Gymnasium of National Stadium. In this interview, he spoke exclusively with JOSEPH ODOEKWU about the troubles encountered by baseball and other sports in Nigeria. Excerpts

Sir, what were your reasons for the introduction of baseball in Nigeria?

There were three main reasons. The first was that I wanted to create an opportunity for young Nigerian athletes who were good enough in baseball to go to the United States and school and also play baseball there, just like it is in basketball and other sports that originated from the US.

The second reason was that it affords the athlete an opportunity to become professionals while being athletes in the US and some other parts of Asia, while the third reason was that I wanted Nigeria to compete favourably with South Africa in baseball which is the best team in Africa today and so that our players can benefit from all the opportunities that comes with baseball.

Were you able to achieve these goals?

Unfortunately these goals were not achieved and it is because of the obstacles in Nigeria

What are these obstacles, can you be elaborate sir?

The obstacles basically have to do with the Nigerian system and how it works. And till date, those obstacles that hindered the realization of those goals are still affecting other sports in Nigeria and that is very bad. And that is why till today Nigeria is dependent on foreign-based players to play for the country.

If you look at the basketball team that played for Nigeria at the Olympics, they are all based abroad and the same thing applies to even our football. In fact, if we take the government away from football today, football will die in Nigeria and yet football has been in Nigeria for nearly 100 years, but yet we are not ashamed. We think we are playing football and we want to win the World Cup?

What other obstacle is affecting baseball development in Nigeria?

Another obstacle affecting baseball development in Nigeria is equipment. When you look at baseball and softball in Nigeria the equipment are not made in Nigeria. So we have to buy them from abroad and they do not come cheap.

We need baseball playgrounds also, even though today we are lucky we have a baseball park in Ilorin which is of international standard, but are they maintaining it?

With all efforts we made to manufacture baseball materials in Nigeria, people are not ready to help. So there are so many obstacles impeding baseball and sports development in Nigeria. The obstacles are at the state, federal and even at the local government levels. There are directors of sports, ministers of sports that all they do is to squander the money, that’s all.

And they want us to win, they are joking. If there are no professional sports in Nigeria managed by the private sector or rich individuals, we are not going to get anywhere in sports

Has the standard of play in baseball met your expectations in Nigeria?

Of course it has not met my expectations and it will never meet with the rate at which we are going. And I do not blame those who succeeded me because it is not easy to overcome the challenges and obstacles that are in Nigeria.

Secondly, when you turn on your television or go to the pages of the newspapers, it is football you see mostly.

They manage to squeeze a page for other sports. Even if you look at the basketball that did well at this Olympics, the media gave them scanty coverage and as soon as this Olympics was over, you will not hear anything again about D’Tigress.

It is football! football!! fFootball!!! In fact, even in coverage of football in Nigeria, the main focus is on European leagues such as the English Premier League, La Liga and others all over the place.

Where is the room for other sports? And the truth is if you do not show other sports they cannot become popular. This requires common sense but I have found out that even the journalists go to where they will get paid, and I really cannot blame them because they have to earn a living. But they have also forgotten that they can grow with a sport.

BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU

Even though the Nigerian team did not make it to the final match of the Beseball5 Championship, one of the prime movers of the sport in the country, Dr. Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuike  has remarked that the future of the sport is very bright in the country.

Okereke-Onyiuike  who is a former director general of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the first female stockbroker in  the country said that baseball will be the second most preferred sport to football.

 She was speaking at the NIS Gymnasium in the premises of the National Stadium, Lagos.

“We know that football is our most preferred sport in Nigeria, we don’t want it to die. But we want baseball to become Nigeria’s second most preferred sports”.

Continuing, she said: “I have lived in the United States of America and see how baseball is. It is a beautiful game and I know that if we nurture it very well here in Nigeria it will become Nigeria’s second most preferred”.

She added that she had been using her contacts to support baseball in Nigeria. She regretted that her effort and that of others have not yielded their desired result, even though baseball is now known.

“We know that the knowledge of baseball has improved in Nigeria, but its current awareness is not up to our expectations”.”But we shall continue to give our best to ensure that its awareness continues”.

She further charged the media to do their best in publicizing baseball.

BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU

The Nigeria baseball5 youth team suffered a defeat in their opener against Ghana on Saturday but rose  beat Benin Republic 2-0 in their second match.

Nigeria secured 2 runs within the first two minutes of play to boost their hope of a win over their West African neighbours and were  more tactical in the game.

There was also massive home support for Nigeria in this encounter courtesy of younger players from the Lagos State Baseball team who  cheered them to their first victory in the championship.

The first set ended with Nigeria finishing with 13 runs against Benin Republic who had 1 run before the break was observed.

The second set gave some inspiration to both sides but Nigeria triumphed again with a 13-3 victory where Benin recorded their highest runs.

In the fourth and final game of the day, defending champions Ghana failed to find their rhythm against a determined Tunisia winning by 2-0.

Their game could be best described as the final before the final as tactical battle emanating from both benches resulted in several calls on umpires by managers and the atmosphere becoming heated as tempers rose.

In the bid to avoid any tendency that could lead to rancour as the game was becoming rowdy, the umpires had to call managers of both sides together for a pep talk at the end of the first set where they held a meeting. Tunisia however won the first set with 19 runs while Ghana had 5 runs before the break.

After the five minute break,  Tunisia continued their dominance taking an early 2 runs lead within a space of five minutes. Ghana’s effort to comeback did not yield any result as Tunisia won again with 8-3 to ensure the game did not go into a third set.

The competition continues on Sunday which is the final day with Ghana facing Benin Republic, while Tunisia confront Nigeria.