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The Director
General of National Sports Commission (NSC), Patrick Ekeji has accused
officials of Nigerian Rugby Federation and Friends of Rugby of double
talk and insincerity.

Ekeji, who was in
Lagos for elections into the executive committee of the National
Olympic Committee (NOC), said the unease in the rugby family in the
country was the result of officials of both bodies refusing to bury the
hatchet.

“All stakeholders
must be honest and sincere. There are a lot of discordant tunes in this
matter. There was a clamour for private sector involvement in sport. As
result, we did what we thought was right and concessions came as a
result of that. The Rugby Federation took up the offer and we did the
concession. Now some of them have told lies and are now saying that
they did not want the concession after it had been done,” Ekeji said.

Ekeji has however
said that the only way out of all the mess in the federation is for all
interested parties to work together and sort out their problems.

Ekeji’s comments
came on the same day Friends of Rugby held a press conference at the
National Stadium in Lagos accusing the NSC of indifference concerning
the case of the ban placed on Rugby by the International Rugby Board.

Spokesperson for
the organisation, Ntiense Williams, said efforts to get the NSC
involved in resolving the issue were unsuccessful.

“Our discussions
with them (NSC) and the Sports Ministry have all proved abortive. Do
they want the federation to spend four years before they take charge?
Two years is still long way to go and we need to salvage what we can
right now before it is too late,” he said.

The call for action
by Friends of Rugby is coming on the heels of last week’s protest by
Rugby players under the aegis of All Rugby Football Players staged at
the National Stadium.

Independence tourney

Friends of Rugby
also unveiled their programme for Nigeria’s 50th independence
anniversary at the briefing. Olatunji Fasimoye, a member of Friends of
Rugby, explained the reason behind the tournament. “It is a way the
Rugby family celebrate independence but this year’s would be special
because of the golden jubilee. It is going to be 7’s tournament between
16 teams made up of men and women clubs in Nigeria. We are also hoping
to bring in some African countries to join us as we celebrate Nigeria.
The tournament would hold on the first and second of October. Winners
in the men and women category would be awarded trophies and a cash
prize,” he said.

Last year’s men’s tournament was won by Cowrie RFC while the Edo
team won the women’s category. The finals of the Lagos Rugby Union
League that was scheduled to hold this weekend has been postponed till
the 16th of October.