Stakeholders Urge Continuity In Sports, As Jonathan Considers Cabinet Reshuffle

As speculation is rife over President Goodluck Jonathan planned cabinet reshuffle, stakeholders in sports has called for continuity in the sector.

 For the President, Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF), Ibrahim Muhammad, under the present leadership of the National Sports Commission (NSC), sports have witnessed a resurgence especially as grassroots level with special attention given to school sports, which came to fore at the last National School Sports Festival held in Ilorin, Kwara State.

Muhammad believes the Minister of Sports/ Chairman, NSC, Bolaji Abdulhai has shown that he is passionate about the grassroots sports with the setting up of a new board for the National Academicals Sports Committee (NASCOM) chaired by Yemi Idowu.

“I want to say that any alteration in the leadership of NSC will surely bring us back to where we were coming from. Since assumption of office, the Minister has displayed some seriousness in reviving the fortune of sports, and this became obvious when he attended the last National School Sports Festival. Never in the history of the games that a serving Minister will attend the championship and this alone has given us hope that in few years, we will get back to our glorious days in sports,” the NSSF boss said.

He continued: “Changing the leadership at this point in time will not help sports generally and it will be counter productive. So I want to appeal to the Presidency to allow this present Minister to carry on with what he had started so that in few years, Nigeria can return to its rightful place in the world.”

For Muhammad, the National School Sports Festival had a private sector support for the first time and this he believes was made possible by NASCOM, a body reconstituted by the Minister.

“For us at school sports, we will forever be grateful to the minister because in the history of school sports games, we have never had it so good like what we had in Ilorin. Sterling Bank single-handedly sponsored the games while Nestle also made it support at the game. So for us, NASCOM has been a blessing because they had shown that they are really partner in progress. I must commend the leadership of NASCOM led by Idowu, who has shown that they are ready to compliment the efforts of NSC in its programmes,” he added.

However, NASCOM boss, Idowu agrees with the NSSF boss, saying there is no point changing a winning team as the Minister and Director General have worked together to lift sports.

He listed some of the achievement of the present leadership of NSC, as winning the AFCON 2013 and FIFA Under 17 World Cup while Nigeria also returned to the global stage in athletics.

National Youth Games End With Discovery Of 370 Special Talents.

The First National Youth Games ended at the weekend with over 370 special talents discovered, according o the Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi.

 A very excited Abdullahi said he was very pleased with the outcome of the games, explaining that he was impressed with the large turn out of participants and even more so with the enthusiasm and skills of the young athletes.

According to Abdullahi, the first youth games achieved its primary objective, which is the early discovery and identification of talents.

“We are very happy with the outcome of the games, with the turnout of athletes, their enthusiasm and skills. With what I saw during the games, I am confident that we have a great future in sports.

“I want assure all the athletes that they are all winners. And for the special talents, we will ensure that they are part of our high performance system, which we have just established,” Abdullahi stated.

The 370 special talents were discovered in 14 sports:  football, boxing, basketball, badminton, handball, power lifting, tennis, track and field and squash. Others are weightlifting, wrestling, taekwondo, volleyball and table tennis.

Two thousand nine hundred and seventeen athletes from thirty-one states and the FCT participated in the games that held between December 6 and December 15. Lagos, Ekiti, Jigawa, Zamfara and Edo states were absent.

Notable highpoint of the games was the disqualification of 667 athletes before the start of events for being over the minimum age of 17. 574 disqualified athletes were male, while 93 were female. Benue, Abia and Delta had the highest number of disqualified athletes with 48, 46 and 45 respectively, while Kebbi (seven), Kogi (eight), Kwara (eight), Ebonyi (five), Sokoto (nine) and Kaduna (ten) had the lowest number of disqualified athletes.

Another notable highpoint of the games was the defeat of Nigeria’s Under-18 champion, Sarah Adegoke from Oyo state, in two straight sets of 6-2, 7-5 by Lizzy Pam, a secondary school student based in England who represented Plateau in the female singles event.

Speaking later in an interview, Pam said she was inspired to victory in the final match by the American tennis sisters, Venus and Serena Williams.

Pam, a 15-year-old student of Culford Secondary School, Bury Saint Edmund in England, said the two players’ performance inspired her whenever she played a match. She said her target was to become a professional tennis player like Serena Williams or Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

Pam’s discovery and her innovative strength might have solved by half the hunt for female tennis athletes who could fly Nigeria’s flag at future international competitions, especially the 2014 Youth Olympics.

Her discovery is similar to that of 13 year-old Nkiruka Iroha who represented Cross River in the girls’ 800 metres final. Iroha did not win the event but it was worthy to note that she placed second; she was able to achieve this feat after she broke her personal best record by six seconds.

A sports consultant to the Cross River state government, Dr. Bruce Ijirgho said he discovered Iroha at the age of nine. He said that with little effort, Iroha could surpass the achievement of Nigerian athletes like Mary Onyali-Omagbemi and current Africa sprint queen, Blessing Okagbare.

This is an indication that the Under-17 NYG has become a veritable platform for the discovery of budding talents. No wonder the sports Minister, stated during the opening and closing ceremonies of the games that states have crucial roles to play in the early discovery of talents.

This, according to him, is what separates advanced countries in sports from the developing ones. Abdullahi said that discovered athletes from the games would be part of the High Performance Centre, which is expected to take-off in January 2014 with two Directors from the United States already employed to man the place.

Williams Sisters Inspired Me To Victory, Says Pam.

Plateau State tennis player, Lizzy Pam said that American tennis sisters, Venus and Serena Williams inspired her to win the final of her match at the on-going National Youth Games, NYG, in Abuja.

Lizzy Pam defeated her opponent Sarah Adegoke from Oyo state in the singles event.

She won in two straight set 6- 2, 7- 5 to win the tennis female final.

Pam, a 15 year-old student of Culford secondary school, Bury Saint Edmund, England said she was usually inspired by the performance of the Williams sisters whenever she played a match.

She said she specifically traveled down to Nigeria to participate in the games and to showcase her talent, adding that she was proud representing her state in the tennis event.

``It was my mum that got me attracted to the William sisters and ever since, I have been so used to watching their games.``My sister was the first to be attracted to them; I only started watching their games few years ago,’’ Pam said.

She pointed out that her target was to become a professional tennis player like Serena Williams or Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

``I hope to be up to their standard one day,’’ she said.Pam commended the organisers of the NYG for staging the games, noting that it had given her the opportunity to know her capability in the tennis.

She said she took tennis as a hobby.

FCT Wins Male Basketball Competition.

The Federal Capital Territory, FCT, basketball team has won the Male category of the basketball event of the on-going National Youth Games, NYG.

FCT edged their opponents, Ogun State by seventy- nine points to fifty- six in the final game decided at the basketball court, Package B of the Abuja National Stadium.

The team took the game to its opponents from the blast of the whistle, racing to a 26 -10 lead in the first quarter.

The boys from Ogun State rallied round in the 2nd quarter to atone for their woeful first quarter with a 21:18 win but it does not count as FCT won the third quarter; 16- 6 before drawing the final one; 19- 19 to ensure a 79 - 56 victory.

Head Coach of the FCT team, Tunde Ayodeji said apart from their adequate preparation, God was also on their side.

Kaduna defeated Delta 62-28 to win the third place match.

NYG: Delta Boxer Emerges First Female Champion In Boxing

 Delta state boxer, Okoro Vwerosuo on Tuesday became the first female boxing champion as events at the National Youth Games (NYG) enters day three.

Vwerosuo punched herself to victory in round three of the only bout in the female 54 weight category at the expense of Kalu Kasarachi from Abia to become the first female to be crowned champion in boxing.

The female weight category witnessed nine bout with four taking place in the 51 and 57 weight categories each, while the only fight in 54 kg produced Vwerosuo as the first female boxing champion.

David David from Cross river state moved into the semifinals of the male boxing event without throwing a punch as the on-going National Youth Games (NYG) holding in Abuja, enters day three.

David booked his place after his opponent Yusuf Rasheed, from Oyo state failed to show up for the fight, on medical ground.

Musa Jazuli representing Kano state also had his semifinals place sealed without a punch after Ayobami Kasali was walked-over in the match, which took at the Abuja National stadium, Velodrome.

Three fights were recorded in the male 51 weight category, with one walk-over, the 54 and 57 weight categories witnessed four fights each, while the male 60 weight kilogram had two fights.

A total of 22 fights were recorded in day two of the boxing event.

Five results in the male category were contentious as the winners emerged through split decisions of 2-1.

Bayelsa, Osun, Yobe Emerge Category Champions In Taekwondo

One hundred and four athletes on Tuesday took part in the taekwondo event as Bayelsa, Osun and Yobe states emerged champions in different categories of events which was held at the velodrome of the National Stadium, Abuja.

Laipko Frederick from Bayelsa, produced intimidating kicks to defeat his opponent Ahmadu Isa from Nasarawa in the final of the male -48 weight category.

Frederick had earlier dismissed Esakpa Kerry from Rivers, to book his final spot with Isa who defeated Oluigbo Mathew from Osun state in the male -48 kg semifinals clash for athletes between the ages of 14 and 15.

Adegoke Abdullahi from Osun state also had a filled day, as he humbled Ekpo Joseph from Akwa Ibom to win the male -55 category in a keenly contested match.

To make it to the final, Abdullahi brushed aside Abubakar Isah from Kaduna, while Joseph who lost his final match defeated Agwu Isaac before picking the final slot.

The male 55 kg was won by Bashiru Mohammed who defeated Usman Mohammed from Niger state.

Mohammed had earlier kicked out Ndem Joe-Maria in the semifinals, while Usman defeated Okechi Chima from Abia.

59 male athletes took part in the taekwondo event, while 45 contested in the female category.

NYG: No Medals To Athletes

Minister of Sports and Chairman of the NSC, Bolaji Abdullahi had declared that no medals would be given to participating athletes and teams.

He explained that the reason for this was to discourage cheating, stressing that the athletes would get a certificate of participation.

The move according to him,  is to ensure that there will be no incentive for cheating and that contingents do not have room to bring overage children into the competition
 He explained that, ``the moment we start giving medals, everyone leading athletes to this competition will worry about their position on the medals table. Therefore, they will do all they can to win and this will defeat the objective of the competition which is developmental.”

 Following the Minister’s directive on strict compliance with the age requirement, many would-be athletes presented by some states were screened out on Saturday, 7 December 2013 for being over the age of 17. Benue state was particularly affected as many of the athletes they presented for the team sports were screened out for being over the minimum age.

Abdullahi said he was happy with the screening exercise, especially as the officials were very thorough. “ If we allow athletes over the minimum age, that would defeat the purpose of the games,” he stated.

National Youth Games Begin In Abuja With Over 4000 Athletes.

Over four thousand athletes are participating in the first National Youth Games organized by the National Sports Commission (NSC), which was flagged off yesterday at a colourful ceremony at the Abuja National Stadium.

 Declaring the games open, the Vice President, Namadi Sambo who was represented by the Honourable Minister of Sports and Chairman of the NSC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said he was impressed with the large turnout of participants to the games.

According to him, the gesture was a demonstration of the nation's commitment as a people to create a solid and sustainable platform for youth development through Sports.

He noted that the Goodluck Jonathan administration recognizes the pivotal role of sports in nation building, hence the resolve to develop this sector to a world-class level.

The Vice President, who commended the NSC for its foresight in initiating the games, stated that the recent victory of Nigeria in the Under 17 FIFA World Championships was a confirmation of the great potentials that exist in the country. “Our grassroots Sports developmental efforts must therefore be geared to continuously put Nigeria in the prime of global Sports.”

The National Youth Games is an initiative of the NSC to serve as a platform for the early identification and discovery of talents. Athletes from the ages of 13 -17 are participating in 14 sports at this inaugural event which starts today, 8th December, 2013 in Abuja and will last until December 15th, 2013.

 The 14 sports are: boxing, badminton, handball, squash, taekwondo, track and field, weightlifting, basketball, football, para-powerlifting, table tennis, tennis, volleyball and wrestling.

Cross Rivers Retains National Sports Festival Title

Cross River State at the weekend in Ilorin retained its title at the Sterling Bank-sponsored 6th National School Sports Festival after coming top on the overall medals' table, thereby winning the trophy for keeps after winning it for three consecutive times.

The state finished with 115 gold, 78 silver and 61 bronze medals. Lagos came second, after garnering 49 gold, 43 silver and 54 bronze medals; Anambra with the largest number of contingent was third with 48 gold, 49 silver and 63 bronze medals.

 Ondo State came forth, with 32 gold, 46 silver and 56 bronze medals, while host state was fifth with16 gold, 21 silver and 30 bronze medals.

Benue and Adamawa ended the festival without a medal to show for their effort.

The climax of the closing ceremony was the final of the football event in the U-17 category and the 4X100 meters ralay U-13 and U-15 category.

In the football event Kwara State defeated its Niger counterpart by 2-0, with goals coming from Onuora Uzochukwu and Henry Samuel in the 30th and 32nd minute, while Cross Rivers carted away all the gold medals in both the U-13 and U-15 boys and girls respectively.

Declaring the festival close, Kwara State governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, represented by the state Head of Service, Aihaji Dabarako Mohammed was grateful to everyone that made the festival a success in spite of the short notice.

"I congratulated the NSSF for a successful festival, it has been able to foster unity among Nigerians and I prayed that the high standard will be maintained. The festival should be a platform for the future of sports in the country," he said.

He said Kwara State government will always be ready to host competition of this magnitude whenever the state is called upon, just as he promised that the state's sporting infrastructure would be improve upon for future competitions.

He concluded by saying that "athletes discovered by the state during the festival will be nurtured to greater heights and taken good care of."

Lagos State Dominates Swimming Event.

Lagos State has dominated the swimming event of the ongoing National School Sports Festival after clinching 13 gold, 8 silver and 5 bronze medals to increase the state's medal hall.
 
Also in Swimming, the Lagos team added 4 gold medals bringing the total number of gold medal to five among the already decided events in swimming as the state also won three gold medals in the Taekwondo event .

Director of Sports, Lagos State, Kweku Tandoh, said the positive efforts of Governor Babatunde Fashola in Grassroots Sports Development has contributed immensely to the success recorded in the tournament, stressing that the state Government would not relent in its efforts to  invest in grass roots sports development.
 
Meanwhile, the state also won a gold medal in the U-15 basketball event for secondary schools.

NSSF: Urges To States To Shun Cheating At National School Sports Fiesta

To ensure that bonafide students participate in the 6th National School Sports Festival, the Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF) has charged states to shun cheating.

According to the Secretary General of NSSF, Olabisi Joseph, the federation is determined to ensure that eligible athletes take part in the sports fiesta.

“We are engaging the services of neutral bodies like the National Sports Commission (NSC), Federal Ministry of Education, and a host of others to handle the screening of athletes for the games and we will be thorough so that nobody will feel cheated during the games. Our appeal to the participating states is for them to ensure that they eschew cheating which might defeat the essence of the games,” she said.

With the teams expected to start arriving on Wednesday November 20 for the championship, Joseph disclosed that the accreditation of teams would hold on Thursday November 21, while the screening exercise is on Friday November 22.

“For us at NSSF, we are poised to stage a befitting games that will be without any hitch and one of the process of achieving this is to ensure that we are strict with the screening and we are ready to punish any teams found wanting,” she added.

 Joseph, however, lauded the Kwara State government for accepting to host the tournament, while also acknowledging the enormous support the federation has been getting from the National Academicals Sports Committee (NASCOM).

“Any state found wanting during the game will be banned while fines will also be handed to such team based on the degree of the offence,” she warned.

The tournament is expected to be officially open by the Governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed on Saturday November 23 at the Ilorin Township Stadium.

Over 6,000 students across the country are expected to compete in 23 events made up of 17 scoring and six demonstration sports at the sports fiesta organized by Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF).

National Academicals Sports Committee, NASCOM, Chairman, Yemi Idowu, said believes support from corporate partnership would help to drive sports at grassroots level.

Sterling Bank, Nestle, National Sports Commission Support NSSF With 57 Million Naira.

Over six thousand athletes from thirty-six states including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja will participate in twenty-two accredited sporting events at the sixth edition of National School Sports Festival holding in Kwara State from Wednesday, 20th of November.

Speaking on Wednesday at the logo unveiling ceremony  at the Media Centre of  Teslim Balogun Stadium, President, Nigeria School Sports Federation, Mallam Ibrahim Mohammed, who explained that seventeen sports would be regarded as scoring while six sports would be a demonstration sports, thanked the kwara state Governor for approving the federation's proposal within a short period of notice.
 
Mohammed, who noted that Akwa-Ibom state was to host the festival but the state declined, said the Kwara State government had a standard stadium that could successfully accommodate the accredited sports, adding that the games would provide a forum for the integration of youths, unearth sporting talents at early age and also to redirect the excessive energy of the youths on positive endeavors.

While unveiling the games logo, Mohammed also give kudos to Sterling Bank Limited for supporting the federation with 30 million and Nestle Milo, for making available 7 million naira, as well as the National Sports Commission, NSC, that gave them 20 million naira, said this year would be the first time corporate bodies would rally round NSSF with huge amount of money to host the games, adding that the Chairman of National Academical Sports Committee, Yemi Idowu assisted them in getting the support of Sterling Bank to sponsor the tournament..
 
Kwara State Director of Sports, Tunde Kazeem, said the state was happy to associate with the NSSF because the games would go a long way to add value to the development of sports in kwara state, adding that the future of Nigerians Sports is school sports, hence the reason why NSSF programmes must be supported.

Brand Manager, Nestle Milo, Funmi Osineye, whose company will be handling the under 13 football event of NSSF's games said the company for over a decade had been supporting school sports programmes and the efficacy of their support has yielded positively towards the growth of school sports.

Representative of Sterling Bank Limited, Adeshina Atilola, said the relationship between the bank and NSSF would foster the growth of school sports which according to him is the right step towards the growth of sports development.

National Youth Games: No Medals for Athletes -Abdullah

The Honourable Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi has declared that medals would not be given to participating athletes and teams in the forthcoming National Youth Games, which will take place in Abuja between December 5th and 15th, 2013.

He explained that the reason for this was to discourage cheating. ``Every athlete will get a certificate of participation, and one of the reasons we decided that there will be no medals is for contingents not to have room to bring overage children into the competition,” Abdullahi said.

He added that, ``the moment we start giving medals, everyone leading athletes to this competition will worry about their position on the medals table. Therefore, they will do all they can to win.”

Abdullahi stated that athletes competing in the games would be those enrolled in school, as their records of enrolment would be checked properly.

The NYG is a platform created by the NSC to encourage youth participation Sports. The inaugural edition will take place in Abuja and will feature 14 sports: boxing, badminton, handball, squash, taekwondo, track and field, weightlifting, basketball, football, para-powerlifting, table tennis, tennis, volleyball and wrestling. Expected to participate at the games are 4,520 boys and girls from across the 36 states and Abuja.

Also speaking recently at the unveiling of the official mascot and logo of the games, the Senate President, David Mark, urged that more funds be allocated to sports, as it is one of the factors that unify Nigerians.

He called on the NSC to use the platform of the NYG for genuine talent identification and discovery.  ``It doesn’t matter if all the children who are going to take us to where we want are all Bolajis. If it is so, so be it.

``What we want is for them to get us what we want. It is not the name, where they come from or who sponsors them that matters.

``I think we have allowed some politics, sometimes, to get into our sporting activities and it helps to mess it up.

``So, I want to urge that we forget politics, religion and ethnicity in this talent-hunt, for us to have genuine Nigerians who will take us to where we want to be in sports,’’ Mark said.