Nigeria Content Online

Ahead of the start
of the 2010/2011 football season, which gets underway this weekend, the
Nigerian Premier League (NPL) has announced that clubs whose fans
assault match officials will henceforth pay a fine of five million
naira.

Previously,
defaulting clubs were sanctioned one million naira by the NPL but it
obviously didn’t serve as a deterrent as fans and clubs continued to
flout the rules.

Last season
witnessed an upsurge in stadium violence, and it ranked as one of the
worst ever in the history of the league in Nigeria since it acquired
professional status in 1990.

But the NPL is keen
to minimise incidences of violence at match venues and has stated that
they have decided to amend some rules so that discipline can return to
the league.

Articles 3.7

The most notable rule amended is Articles 3.7(1), which now states that:

“Intimidation and
harassment of match officials by clubs supporter(s)/fans or club
officials before, during, or after pre-match meetings is strictly
prohibited and attracts a fine of N5 million payable before the club’s
next home match.”

Articles 3.7(2)
also states that: “Where the match officials are harassed or
intimidated, Match Commissioners are empowered to call off or
discontinue with the meetings and or the matches,” while Articles
3.7(3) states that: “Upon receipt of the Match Commissioner’s report, 3
points and 3 goals shall be deducted from the already accrued points of
the offending team, and their opponent shall be credited with 3 points
and 3 goals.”

Acting Executive
Secretary, Tunji Babalola said in Abuja that all the clubs will have
the rules which they will share to their players this week.

“We are ready for
the start of the league this week. But we are also ready to enforce the
rules so that we can turn the fortunes of the game around in the
country.

“We know that the clubs will study the amended rules and regulations so that they will not run foul of it,” he said.

Babalola, on behalf of the NPL, also called all clubs to strictly
adhere to the new rules so that Nigerians will enjoy the domestic game
in the country which kicks off this Saturday.

Nigeria on Sunday bounced back into reckoning at the ongoing World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk,

following the men’s team 3.5-0.5 demolition of Ghana in the 5th round.

The quartet of
Charles Campbell, Olanrewaju Ajibola, Olumide Ajibowo and Inimo Kigigha
made the nation proud with the win, which has put the team back in
contention for category honour at the global chess event.

Olanrewaju played
in black pieces against Francis Anquanddi in Queen’s opening with (1)
d4-d5 (2) e3-Nf6 (3) Bd3-c5 but with an innovation of the Nigerian with
c5 on move 3, it was later transposed into Maroczy bind and on move 16,
Olanrewaju was on the verge of winning a Rook for a pawn sacrifice and
brought the game to a ruthless conclusion on move 28.

Ajibowo had a
complex game with Ansha Thompson in a Ruy Lopez opening and on move 27,
the Nigerian made a Rook sacrifice which the Ghanaian could not hold on
to and conceded defeat in a highly entertaining end game of Rooks and
white Bishop.

Kigigha won on
board three against Bonsu Bempa while Campbell drew against Williams
Hrogendijk in the last game. The fifth member of the men’s team, Bunmi
Olape was rested for today’s against Malta.

Angolan comeback

In the women’s
category, Oluwatobi Olatunji caused the major upset of the day with a
massive win against Grand Master Sabure Tuduestso of Angola in one of
the round five games.

The Nigerian,
playing on top board with no international rating and making her first
appearance on the world stage, proved her better positional display in
Queen’s Gambit opening by not castling and brought the game to a
ruthless conclusion on move 28 to the amazement of chess enthusiast at
the Urgra Arena.

Another Olympiad
debutant, Funmi Akinola followed suit on board three against Sabure
Outiretse in a one-sided proceeding of Ruy Lopez to give Nigeria a 2-0
lead which they failed to hang on to after the experienced duo of
Rachael Dappa and Rosemary Amadasun allowed their respective opponent’s
easy wins over them to leave the final score at 2-2.

Amadasun, with
visible board advantage, gave the tie to Angolan teenager, Mokgacha
Keitumetse, after failing to meet the mandatory time control of 40
moves. While Dappa, with several mating options allowed Lopang Tshepiso
to escape from the trouble with a passed pawn in a long end game.

The 11 round
Swiss-event paring tournament will end on 3rd of October with Nigeria
still very much in contention for category medal ranking.

The men’s team at the last edition in Dresden, Germany secured
silver in category E, improving on their bronze medal win at the 2006
Olympiad held in Turin, Italy.

A
sensational solo goal by Portuguese winger Nani and a Michael Owen
header salvaged a 2-2 draw for Manchester United against Bolton
Wanderers in a lively Premier League derby on Sunday.

Aston Villa moved
into fifth spot when Emile Heskey’s late header earned them a 2-1
victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers in Gerard Houllier’s first league
match in charge of the midlands club while Stoke City won 2-1 at
Newcastle United to move out of the bottom three after trailing at
halftime.

Nani’s audacious
dribble from the halfway line cancelled out an early goal by defender
Zat Knight and, after Martin Petrov had restored Bolton’s lead, Owen
came off the bench to rescue Alex Ferguson’s side with his 200th goal
in English football.

United’s third
consecutive away draw of the season meant they missed the chance to
take full advantage of Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat at Manchester City on
Saturday and Arsenal’s surprising 3-2 home loss to West Bromwich Albion.

Champions Chelsea have 15 points from six games with United on 12. Arsenal and City have 11 points with Villa on 10.

United’s struggle completed an unpredictable weekend in England’s top flight and left Ferguson frustrated.

“Teams drop points
when you don’t expect it,” he told United’s website (www.manutd.com).
“That’s what the Premier League is like.

“Away from home
we’ve scored seven goals and we’ve only taken three points. But we must
take credit coming back again. Being behind twice away from home is not
easy to come back from. It shows character.”

Near neighbours

United have
dominated near neighbours Bolton in recent years, winning 10 of their
last 11 meetings, but they were rocked after six minutes when Knight
shot past Edwin van der Sar from close range.

The visitors were
level after 23 minutes when Nani took possession near the halfway line
and set off towards Bolton’s goal. After ghosting past three defenders,
the Portuguese winger angled a shot past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Wayne Rooney,
playing his first away game since revelations about his private life
were plastered across the tabloids, endured another quiet match and was
substituted after the break by Federico Macheda, suffering a slight
ankle knock.

The England striker
has managed just one goal for United since March and that came from the
penalty spot against West Ham United this month.

Bolton regained the
lead in the 67th minute with a sweeping move which ended with Johan
Elmander feeding former Manchester City player Petrov to fire in a shot
that deflected off Darren Fletcher and inside the post.

Elmander wasted a
glorious chance to make it 3-1 and Bolton paid the price when Nani’s
teasing free kick was glanced in by Owen for his first league goal of
the season to reach a notable career landmark.

“Scoring has always
been a part of my career, and it’s always nice to score goals, but it’s
tinged with disappointment at not getting the win,” Owen said.

Houllier, who
witnessed many of Owen’s goals while manager of Liverpool, was full of
praise for the often maligned Heskey, another player who thrived under
him at Anfield.

Heskey’s thumping
header from Ashley Young’s cross after 88 minutes gave Villa the points
after Villa had seen an early lead given to them by Stewart Downing
cancelled out by Matt Jarvis.

“Everybody loves Emile at the club,” Houllier told Villa’s website.
“He is a good team mate and what he needs is to keep believing in
himself.”

The future looks
bright for golf in Nigeria going by the performance of young golfers,
who took part in the Children’s Clinic and Competition of the ongoing
Nigeria Cup Golf Tournament at the Ikoyi Club 1938, Lagos.

The annual event
put together by the golf section of the recreation club, came up on
Saturday and had no fewer than 50 kids in attendance.

The golf clinic and
tournament is part of a weeklong programme of events leading up to
Nigeria’s Independence Day celebrations on October 1.

The children
sauntered in as early as noon at the driving range of the all-green
18-hole course to practise their swings before the commencement of the
tournament under the guidance of top Nigerian golfer, Jacob Omoruah,
who led the kids through the rudiments of the game.

Chief executive
officer of the Professional Golfers Association of Nigeria (PGAN),
Olusola Lawson, who was at the event accompanied by his kids,
nine-year-old Anjola and six-year-old Bolu, said he was happy to see
more children turning up for the tournament. He was excited to see
children six years-old and below playing three holes, while those in
the age 8-13 years bracket tried their hands on six holes.

Children between the age of 14 and 18 were also not left out as they showed their golfing skills over nine holes.

Omoruah, whose son also took part in the tournament, was equally impressed by the turnout of kids at the event.

Getting better and better

“The tournament is
getting better by the year and I am happy that the exercise is being
taken seriously by respective Nigeria Cup organisers,” said Omoruah,
who was also full of praises for Ebi Pinnick, a club member, who
initiated the exercise a couple of years back.

“I have to laud Ebi
Pinnick because he is the brain behind this and thank God that all the
captains that we have had took up the brilliant idea and I can tell you
that it is flourishing.”

He added that the tournament has yielded positive results.

“We have gotten
tremendous success from this exercise. Players like Tokunbo Pedro, Paul
and Mathew Coker and Adegboyega Toriola are product of this competition
and doing well for themselves in and outside the country. As we talk
Tokunbo is in the United States playing,” he said.

Chairman of the
Nigeria Cup Organising Committee, Frank Gboneme, said he was happy to
see a large assemblage of would-be Tiger Woods.

“We would not stop this because the future of the game is in the youth,” said Gboneme.

Winners in all the
age brackets also went home with impressive gifts given out at an
elaborate prize-giving ceremony later in the evening.

Today, caddies will
take to the golf course as the week-long competition enters the second
day with no fewer than 50 caddies playing 18 holes on the par 71.

The Nigeria Cup which is now in its 14th year, has served as a
breeding ground for future stars. This year’s edition is backed by
notable brands in the country, including UBA, Diamond Bank, Oando
Petroleum and Nigeria Breweries, makers of Heineken in Nigeria.

Participants
at the Independence Corporate run, which held yesterday in Lagos, have
praised the decision to organise the event noting that it gave members
of the corporate world and other Lagosians an opportunity to get away
from their chaotic work schedules.

“I haven’t have
this much fun in a long time. It’s nice when you have an opportunity to
get away from the demands of work and do something completely
different. A lot of the people who took part in this race haven’t had
time to exercise in a long while,” said Esther Obieke, an employee of
Fidelity Bank one of the runners who participated in the mini-marathon.

Making it annual

For Azi Daniel, who
finished in second place – behind Femi Olusanya of the Nigeria Police –
in the individual category, he is happy to have picked up the N75, 000
prize money for the second placed finisher in the event.

“I am happy I participated in this race,” said the employee of the Nigerian army who is used to running the half-marathon.

“Races like this keep you fit and I just wish they will make it an annual event.”

The race, which
flagged off around 8:30 am at the Cricket Oval at the Tafawa Square,
had the over 1000 participants coursing through Awolowo Road in Ikoyi
from where they turned off into Akin Adesola Street on Victoria Island
for the final stretch to the finish point at the Bar Beach.

The runners most of
who arrived the venue of the takeoff as early as 7am were eager to get
started and barely had time to listen to the pep talk given by Akin
George, the head of the medical team put on standby by the organisers
to respond to any health emergency.

George, who
disclosed that all participants had undergone medical examination last
Sunday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, said no unpleasant incident was
recorded.

“All the
participants finished the race. There were no casualties recorded even
though we had a strong team on ground to respond to any development.”

The race had in attendance top officials of Lagos State including Aderenle Adeniran Ogunsanya, who represented the governor.

The Independence Corporate Run was organised by the Lagos State
Sports Endowment Fund (LSSEF). The fund was set up in 1990 by the
administration of Raji Rasaki. It went moribund for several years until
it was resurrected by the government of Babatunde Fashola. Tunde
Bank-Anthony, Secretary of the fund said after the race that there
would be a formal lunch of the fund in November.

Nigerian forward Osaze Odemwingie was in inspirational form for West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, leading the Baggies
to a remarkable 3-2 victory over Arsenal and he believes the win will
spark a new-found belief within the squad.

The former
Lokomotiv Moscow player, who took his tally to four goals in five games
with the opener in the first Baggies league win on Gunners soil since
December 1983, insists Albion’s Carling Cup exploits spurred on Roberto
Di Matteo’s starting eleven in their famous win at the Emirates Stadium.

“I think taking
three points at the Emirates will make us believe more that in every
away game – even against the big teams – it is possible to come away
with three points,” Odemwingie told the official website of the Albions.

Odemwingie had won
a penalty, which was missed by Chris Brunt, before going on to open the
scoring for the Baggies five minutes into the second half. He later set
up Gonzalo Jara to score a totally unexpected second two minutes after
the restart.

Jerome Thomas made it three with 17 minutes to go before the home side grabbed two late goals through Samir Nasri.

Two over the big guns

It was the second
big win for the side managed by former Italian international Roberto Di
Matteo in a week and Odemwingie admitted the players who made the
starting line-up against the Gunners knew they had to perform, with the
members of the cup team that beat Manchester City 2-1 last Wednesday
staking strong claims to step into their boots.

“There is a lot of competition for places, which is why every player played with a lot of desire,” he said.

“On Wednesday we won at home against Manchester City in the cup with those players who haven’t had much game time.

“That played a big
role for today (Saturday) because we all gave our best,” added
Odemwingie, who committed the highest number of fouls – four – in
Saturday’s game.

Four on the trot

Four is also the
number of games West Brom have now gone unbeaten since their lone goal
defeat to Liverpool at Anfield. Since that August 29 loss to the Reds,
the Baggies have drawn 1-1 with Tottenham, and won three straight
games; against Birmingham (3-1), Manchester City (2-1) and Arsenal
(3-2).

Little wonder the Nigerian international insists confidence is on the rise within the Baggies’ dressing room.

“Our confidence is growing because we have played four good games in a row, which is keeping us high so far,” Odemwingie said.

“I think we chose
the right tactics today (Saturday) to press Arsenal high up the pitch
and not let Arsenal build up from the back. “In the first half we had
the better chances and we missed a penalty.

“Scoring three goals makes it a deserved win,” concluded Odemwingie.

In England, many
people are already crowning Chelsea as Premier League champions. After
five rounds of fixtures, apparently, there are several commentators and
pundits who believe the Blues have already proven they are the best
team in the country.

Now if you take a
look at the numbers, it is easy to see that Chelsea have looked good so
far. They have five wins in six games and they have scored a whopping
21 goals. You don’t need to be a genius to figure out that’s an
impressive average of four goals per game. Carlo Ancelotti’s side have
also played some great football at times, and to concede only two goals
in the process is also noteworthy.

So, we have
established that the Blues are doing well. But are they on their way to
another title? Uh … not so fast. At this point, I would like to
interject with a reality check.

Who have Chelsea
played so far? Have you had a look? Don’t worry, I will tell you: West
Brom, Wigan, Stoke, West Ham and Blackpool.

So, two newly
promoted sides and three others that have combined for two league wins
between them. In other words, they have played no one. No one to
challenge them in any way, shape or form. In a world where there is a
widening gap between the top and bottom teams, it does not shock me
that the London side has reeled off five straight convincing wins.

You may be
thinking that it’s still a pretty impressive start to the season and I
would agree with you. Nowadays, you don’t win games on paper and you
must work hard every time you walk out onto the pitch in order to get
the three points, I won’t contest that. However, it is way too early to
start talking about a title, and in my view they won’t be lifting the
trophy when it is all said and done.

An old obsession

Of course they will
challenge to be champions again. They have the quality, the experience
and the organisation required to do so. Carlo Ancelotti is a fantastic
manager and they have a series of players in John Terry, Frank Lampard
and Didier Drogba, that lead by example and can play a leading role
this season.

The return of
Michael Essien and the addition of Ramires have also made the team
stronger. However, there is an old obsession which will get in the way
– the European Champions League. In my mind, there is no doubt that
towards the business end of the season, if they get to the latter
stages of Europe’s top club competition, they will rest players in the
Premier League in order to win the trophy that has so far eluded them.

The next month will offer some insight into the true value of this
team. Already, they have lost a tough away game to Manchester City then
there is a home tie with Arsenal before another tricky road battle with
Aston Villa in Birmingham. If they get seven or nine points from those
games, then we could start talking about Chelsea reigning victorious in
the league again. Until then, we should watch and wait.

Patrick Ekeji, Director General of the National
Sports Commission (NSC) must be revelling in his new found power.After easing
out Habu Gumel as President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and
installing his former boss, Sani Ndanusa, he must be feeling very pleased with
himself; after all, power intoxicates.

The
former Green Eagles defender appears to be finally coming into his own. For the
moment he seems to be getting the better of his rival, Amos Adamu, who has a
contempt charge hanging over his head for his role in the Nigeria football
federation elections, which held on August 26.Since Adamu was moved from the
sports ministry following his life and death struggle with Abdulrahman Gimba,
the sports minister at the time of his removal, Ekeji has become the ‘Lord of
the Manor’ at the sports ministry. He has used every opportunity to consolidate
his hold on power at the ministry.

The
brazen manner he moved against the sit-tight Gumel, on September 16 showed just
how much he relishes his new position as a power broker in Nigeria’s sports
establishment. However, like every individual enthralled by power, he failed to
apply tact.

Many
will agree that it was needless holding that September 16 election particularly
as the Gumel camp had already agreed to hold an election on September 23. What
he did amount to naked show of power? It betrayed a lack of tact and an absence
of strategy on his part.

If
he wanted Gumel out by all means and the voting delegates to the elections are
largely members of the different sports federations under the control of the
sports ministry, couldn’t he have issued simple instructions to his ‘boys’ that
‘government’ wasn’t interested in Gumel’s return to office?

Everyone
knows that going by tradition, the officials in the sports federations cannot
by any stretch of the imagination even begin to summon the nerve to disobey
such directive. Effective as this option would have been, it was not attractive
to Ekeji because it would have robbed him of the opportunity to show that he is
now ‘in charge’.

Power and responsibility

For
someone who for years had chafed under the expansive influence of Adamu, known
as ‘Mr. Fix it’ for his numerous schemes, Ekeji was not going to pass up an
opportunity to show off his new found authority.

Unfortunately,
his new found authority has not improved the fortunes of Nigerian sports. In
the last one year we have been witnesses to a gradual but consistent decay of
sports and its facilities in the country. At the same time Nigerian teams
across the various sports have become cannon fodder for other national teams,
the sporting landscape in the country has become pockmarked by crises.

And
what has been Ekeji’s role? It is hard to tell. You even wonder at times
whether a Nigerian sport has leadership. Ibrahim Bio, the man who replaced the
phlegmatic Sani Ndanusa, who has managed to scheme into the leadership of the
NOC, and who appeared to be the right man for the job has been bogged down by
health concerns.

This
means that Ekeji, who has spent donkey years in the ministry and therefore
ought to understand the dynamics of Nigerian sports, should provide the needed
leadership. He has failed to do so preferring instead to solidify his power
base.

And
so it is that on the eve of a major international sporting event like the
Commonwealth Games, the Nigerian contingent is hopelessly unprepared.

It
is amazing that a sports ministry that can provide four crafty individuals with
N1billion to spend on a football tournament for which we returned empty-handed
cannot make funds available to other sports to prepare for Games we had known
we would be taking part in four years ago.

As
I write this, the World Basketball Championship for women is going on in the
Czech Republic and Nigeria is absent. The male version of the tournament ended
just a little over a week ago in Turkey with Nigeria also absent from the
event, which had Angola, Cote‘d Ivoire representing Africa.

Power
comes with a certain responsibility. It demands that the individual exercising
it fulfill basic obligations. In Ekeji’s case it demands that millions of
Nigerian youngsters who make to make sports a career be provided with the
opportunity to do so. It means that since sports in the country is still
tightly controlled by government and Ekeji, as the ministry’s chief planner
(the sports minister is a political appointee who will go at any time) should
put in place structures that would provide these youngsters a platform to
excel.

It
means that Ekeji should not as he was quoted to have said, insist that there
was nothing wrong for athletes who have no other means of livelihood to pay for
use of facilities at the National Stadium even when the reason for that
training is to represent Nigeria at international sporting competitions.