Archive for nigeriang

Angelic trio of Gospel singers

09/08/2010 No comments

Angelic trio of Gospel singers

The gospel music group D’ Angelic 3 comprises three sisters. Olomachi is nine, Kelechi is six and Amarachukwu is 11.

Raised in a family
where they were taught the goodness of God, the trio could not think of
anything else than to use their talent for God. The lead singer,
Olomachi, recalls beginning to sing at three.

“When I started singing, my mummy would listen and take notes, until now when I put down the songs myself.”

When she realised
she wouldn’t be able to sing all the songs herself, Olomachi involved
her sisters. Olomachi attributes her inspiration to God. “I love Him so
much that I want other children to love Him also and I want them to
hear of His goodness,” she states.

However, music goes
beyond relaxation for the little girl. “I remember listening to myself
sing for the very first time when we recorded our song. I felt like I
was on top of the world, it felt good – especially during the Under-17
World Cup when I met the President, who was then the Vice-President”.

Explaining how the
group got their name, she said, “Our dad suggested the name to us and
we liked it.” That day, we were preparing to go for a program and we
needed a name to use. During rehearsal, my dad just said ‘now, let’s
welcome the Angelic 3′ – and that was it.”

The supportive
parents, naturally, have influenced the trio. “It’s really funny
because I remember that they would always tell us not to [drink] cold
water so we don’t lose our voice. And that as you lay your bed, so you
would lie on it.”

Aside from music,
the trio of school pupils (Olomachi is in Basic 5, Kelechi in Basic 2
and Amarachukwu is in JSS 1) also model. While Amarachukwu and Kelechi
see music as a hobby and would like to be a lawyer and banker
respectively, Olomachi wants to continue singing.

“I love music, gospel music that whenever I hear people sing. I feel happy because I know soon the battle line would be drawn.”

Kelechi also loves
to sing. “I want to know God’s word more and I know many people do not
know the word; and I want [them] to know.”

Though raised by a
father who beats the drum and a mother who sings, the girls have other
role models. The sisters confided that Gospel singer Buchi and Chinyere
Odoma have inspired them over time.

Though they might
not have fully registered their names on public consciousness with
their music, they have captured people’s hearts in other endeavours.
Kelechi featured in an MTN Nigeria’ advert and also won the Mini
Charming Princess competition. After being crowned Little Charming
Princess, Amarachukwu was nominated to represent Nigeria at the last
Little Miss World London but couldn’t go because she was denied a visa.
She has been nominated again for the same event, now holding in Turkey.
Olomaachi sang the national anthem during the under-17 World Cup last
year in Abuja.

Meanwhile, they are pressing on with their musical ambitions. Their
debut album, ‘Confessing Jesus’, was launched on August 7 in Lagos. “In
our album, we are trying to thank God for our lives and also that we
should always put our trust in God because there’s nothing impossible
with Him,” Olomachi says.

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Illegal political broadcast worries commission

09/08/2010 No comments

Illegal political broadcast worries commission

The National
Broadcasting Commission has described as illegal and unacceptable any
political broadcast aired by radio or television stations earlier than
three months to the 2011 general elections.

Chris Okotomho, who
represented Yomi Bolarinwa, the Director-General of the commission, at
a one-day political broadcast forum held in Benin also said the NBC is
worried by the way broadcast stations air political campaigns without
recourse for laid down electoral laws and broadcasting code.

He said if something is not done urgently to curb such excesses, broadcasting would be brought to disrepute.

“Contravening electoral acts is criminal, and whoever breaks the rules could be charged and prosecuted,” he said.

“Members of the public depend on broadcasters to show the way, but they collaborate with politicians who break such laws.”

According to him,
electoral laws stipulate that election campaigns will be aired from 90
days to such election and end 24 hours to the election. He said many
stations act as if they are appendages to certain political parties by
cooperating with them in breaking the law.

“Broadcasters are
in a privileged position and should be seen as such,” he said, adding
that the commission can no longer tolerate the lawlessness observed
recently.

“Political campaign broadcast now is criminal and a violation of broadcast code, which could attract sanction,” he said.

Guest lecturer at
the forum, Osakue Stevenson Omoera, said the performance of the press
decides the outcome of elections in United States of America, Germany,
Switzerland, and recently in Ghana. He said that if Ghana could do it,
Nigerian press has the more reason to abide by the rule.

Review the code

He advised that journalists should be well-remunerated to avoid being bought over by corrupt politicians.

The Zonal Director
of NTA, Layi Ademokoya, observed that the proliferation of private
broadcast organisations has not helped, as they promote the political
interests of their proprietors.

The Ondo State
commissioner for information, Ranti Akerele, called for the review of
the broadcasting code, which he said was made by the military who did
not know anything about politics or campaign.

He called on the NBC to urgently convene a stakeholders’ meeting
with a view to amending the broadcasting code, more so now that the
nation’s constitution is undergoing a review.

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Opposition party urges action on African Petroleum crisis

09/08/2010 No comments

Opposition party urges action on African Petroleum crisis

The Action Congress (AC) has asked
regulatory authorities to act urgently to defuse the crisis at African
Petroleum Plc, as it is endangering the investments of thousands of
shareholders.

In a statement by its national
publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said it was compelled to
make the call because the company is of strategic importance to the
country’s economy.

The N150-billion company is a major
player in the energy sector and boasts nearly 97,000 shareholders.
Media reports accuse the company of manipulating their accounts to show
profitability and hide losses of up to N15 billion.

The party also said it is worried about
infighting among the company’s management, which resulted in the
termination of the managing director and the suspension of an executive
director and the company secretary.

“In all this, it is the shareholders
who are holding the short end of the stick,” said the party. “After
all, it is said that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that
suffers.”

SEC intervention

The party called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate and take necessary actions to stem the crisis.

“SEC must play its statutory role so as
to avoid the kind of crisis that was witnessed in the banks, with dire
consequences to the economy and to hapless investors, due to poor
regulatory controls.”

However, it warned that the commission
might be hampered in carrying out its duties in the case because of the
perceived closeness of the company’s chairman, Femi Otedola, to
President Goodluck Jonathan.

“We are also worried by the insinuation
that this perceived closeness to power has bred impunity in [the
company], more so at a time the chairman was bestowed with one of our
country’s highest awards – Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) –
by Mr. President,” said the party.

“We have no reason to believe that this insinuation is true, but Nigerians must be shown clearly that it is not.”

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Japan seeks greater attention to yam research

09/08/2010 No comments

Japan seeks greater attention to yam research

The Japanese
government has called for more support from partners on yam research to
prevent the threats of food crises in Africa.

The Japanese
Ambassador to Nigeria, Toshitsugu Uesawa, made the call at the
commissioning of Japan-assisted projects in IITA-Abuja station at the
weekend.

Mr. Uesawa lauded
the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture for its cutting
edge research in root and tuber crops which has produced several
innovative outputs such as the propagation of yam through vine
cuttings. “IITA’s efforts have contributed towards sustainable
development of agriculture in developing countries,” he said.

He emphasized that
“IITA’s role has been great,” but said more attention should be given
to the project. Part of the facilities commissioned by the Japanese
envoy included a root and tuber processing centre with processing
machines, soil preparation shade and a screen house.

The projects were
financed at a cost of over US$82,000 from the Japanese Grass Roots
Project, which aims to improve the livelihoods of rural people.
Hidehiko Kikuno, a yam Physiologist at IITA, called on farmers to tap
the available agricultural innovations from IITA and also to maximize
the use of the facilities.

Mr. Kikuno, who has
successfully propagated yam through vine cuttings, advised farmers to
adopt the method saying that with the vine propagation technique, the
propagation rate would be high with a possibility to reduce the cost of
seed yam.

Fortified banana

Meanwhile, in a
major scientific breakthrough, IITA-Uganda crop scientists have
successfully transferred genes from green pepper to bananas to enable
the crop to resist the Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW). The research to
fortify banana against BXW using genes from sweet pepper was initiated
in 2007.

BXW is one of the
most devastating diseases of banana in the Great Lakes region of Africa
that causes about half a billion dollars worth of damage yearly. The
transformed banana was infused with plant ferredoxin-like amphipathic
protein (Pflp) or hypersensitive response-assisting protein (Hrap) from
green pepper and they have exhibited strong resistance to BXW in the
laboratory and screen-houses. Some of the findings of the research have
been published in the Molecular Plant Pathology Journal.

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Constituents ask Abia Senator to defect with governor

09/08/2010 No comments

Constituents ask Abia Senator to defect with governor

The
expected defection of the Abia State governor, Theodore Orji to the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) less than a month after he cross
carpeted to the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) from the
Progressive Peoples Alliance has thrown politicians and the electorate
in the state into confusion.

The discordant
tunes at the weekend came to the fore when Uche Chukwumerije, senator
representing the Abia North senatorial district, was mandated by his
constituents to dump APGA which he recently declared for, along with Mr
Orji, for PDP.

At a meeting in
Umuahia of politicians from the five local government areas in the zone
to discuss the direction of the political wind that is blowing across
the state since the July 3 defection of the governor, they passed a
motion for Mr. Chukwumerije to join the PDP, arguing that they no
longer want to be in a minority party.

The same
constituents had, last month, directed Mr. Chukwumerije to move to APGA
with Mr. Orji after he left the PPA’s platform that gave him the
governorship ticket for Abia in 2007.

Mr. Chukwumerije,
at the meeting, intimated his constituents with political developments
in the state as it affects and will affect them.

After the analysis
and rationalization, his constituents insisted that he also moves with
the governor into the PDP – recalling that in the same July when they
mandated him to join APGA, they also directed him to always be in the
same political party/camp with the governor.

The chairman of the
meeting and a legislator in the Abia State House of Assembly,
Princewell Onyegbu, and two other colleagues, Matthew Ibe and Orji
Lekwauwa, said the people were constrained by the drawbacks of
belonging to a minority party which they had been in the past three
years and thus have no choice than to mandate their senator to pitch
camp with the PDP.

“This time around,
we must belong to the ruling party at the centre and thus return to the
mainstream of the Nigeria politics and from within, not from outside,
fight for our rights and dues and no more from the opposition that we
got nothing other than denial of our dues. Opposition has never helped
us,” he said.

Enter the mainstream

Seemingly
disappointed, perhaps thinking or expecting that his constituents’
reaction would be that he remain in APGA that many tagged to be the
Igbo party, the Senator became rather dumbfounded.

But the supporters
said the condition on which the men would join the PDP, which might not
be compromised, was that of giving automatic tickets to Messrs Orji and
Chukwummerije to represent the PDP, as they already have these tickets
in APGA.

Meanwhile the expected entry of Mr Orji to the PDP and the condition
of allowing him to control the party structure in the state, which the
party at the national level is acceding to, especially with the sudden
dissolution of the state executive of the party last week, is
generating bad blood as some members have headed to the court to
challenge the dissolution.

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Opposition parties worry over incessant defection

09/08/2010 No comments

Opposition parties worry over incessant defection

Opposition
parties in the country are worried over the increasing defection of
elected public office holders, especially the federal and state
legislators, from the parties under which platform they were elected to
others.

They are also
lamenting the failure of the National Assembly to amend the provisions
of the constitution to make it possible for politicians, particularly
lawmakers, to lose their seats if they decamp to other parties.

Sections 68 (g) and
109 (d) of the 1999 Constitution says a member of the Senate or of
House of Representatives or State House of Assembly shall vacate his
seat in the House of which he is a member if “being a person whose
election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a
member of another political party before the expiration of the period
for which that House was elected: Provided that his membership of the
latter political party is not as a result of division in the political
party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more
political parties or factions by one of which he was previously
sponsored.” During the just-concluded constitution amendment, the
National Assembly had proposed to alter the sections to make it
possible for lawmakers to defect without losing their seat. The
proposal, however, did not get the support of two-third majority of the
36 State Houses of Assembly. Following the rejection, the sections were
left intact.

But officials of
opposition parties who spoke with NEXT said the rate at which elected
office holders are defecting to other parties, particularly the PDP
could turn the country into a one-party state.

They also said that
the failure to change the law, by the federal and state legislators,
during the recently concluded amendment of the 1999 Constitution, has
not helped to deepen the nation’s democracy.

Sabo Muhammad, the
National Director of Publicity of the All Nigerian Peoples Party, said
his party is sad that the amendment of the clauses did not sail through
during the exercise.

“You know that is
what we have been canvassing. The ANPP under the leadership of Edwin
Ume-Ezeoke, and Saidu Umar, from the onset has been in the forefront of
the campaign to curtail the cross carpeting of politicians because ANPP
has suffered much from this unfortunate thing. And so, you don’t expect
us to be happy that the amendment was not carried through,” Mr Muhammad
said.

Money-bag politics

The national
chairman of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), Lisu Akerele
described the failure of the amendment as unfortunate. According to
him, the defection of members of a political party to others is
promoting money-bag politics, and it would not give room for
ideology-based political parties to thrive.

“The question of
jumping from one party to another has to do with money politics and
that is the problem we are having,” Mr Akerele said.

“It is not good for
the development of party politics. You have to stand for something and
not for naira, not for money all the time. It is either you are on the
left or on the right. Because of the way people are looking for money
you find that they lack principle and keep moving from one place to
another. Is that how to play politics. How do we grow?” The PPA boss
said if sanity is to be restored to the nation’s polity, the defection
of politicians must be curtailed. He disclosed that his leadership has
been trying to build a serious party to which everyone will not only be
proud to belong but also find it difficult to decamp to other parties.

Ifeanacho
Oguejiofor, the spokesman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA)
and his counterpart in the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties
(CNPP), Osita Okechukwu also regretted the increasing rate at which
politicians are decamping, adding that it is weakening the opposition
parties.

But the spokesman
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmed Rufai Alkali, whose party
has been a major beneficiary of defections in the recent past, said the
failure to make the amendment was the wish of Nigerians, adding that
the party would abide by whatever law is made by the legislature.

“If that is the
decision of the legislature, we will go along with it,” Mr Alkali told
NEXT. “It is the wish of Nigerians that the National Assembly is trying
to reflect. I think they are handling the amendment well as
representatives of the people. We have confidence in them.”

Jumped ship

Since 2007 when the
present National Assembly was inaugurated, no fewer than 13 senators
and 15 members of the House of Representatives have decamped to other
parties. Among the senators who have dumped their parties are Patrick
Osakwe (Delta), Uche Chukwumerije (Abia), Patricia Akwashiki
(Nasarawa), Satty Gogwin (Plateau), Suleiman Nazif (Bauchi) and Sahabi
Yau (Zamfara). Others are Hassan Gusau (Zamfara), Alphonsus Igbeke
(Anambra) and Otaru Ohize (Kogi).

In the House of Representatives, those that moved are Uche Ekwunife (Anambra),

Ahmed Wase (Plateau), Abubakar Bunu (Zamfara), Mohammed Takoki (Zamfara),

Suleiman Abdul (Kogi), Salihu Abdulkareem (Kogi) and Bello Moriki (Zamfara).

Idris Keta
(Zamfara), Zubairu Dahir (Zamfara), Kareem Abisodun (Oyo), Patrick
Obahiagbon (Edo), Samson Osagie (Edo) and Ibrahim Misau (Bauchi) also
decamped to other parties. All of them still maintain their seats in
the parliament.

Hundreds of state legislatures as well as four state governors have also defected and are still in office.

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Sambo harps on unity among African states

09/08/2010 One comment

Sambo harps on unity among African states

Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire have stressed the need for African countries to find solutions to their developmental challenges.

The Vice President,
Namadi Sambo disclosed this at the weekend after a closed door meeting
with President Lauren Gbagbo of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, at the
Presidential Palace, Abidjan.

Mr. Sambo was in Cote d’Ivoire for the golden jubilee independence anniversary celebration of the country.

Cote d’Ivoire got
her independence from France on August 7, 1960. It is one of the 17
African countries celebrating their half century independence
anniversary from the clutches of colonialism, this year.

African solutions to problems

The vice president
said both countries find it imperative for cooperation among themselves
as to overcome all the developmental challenges they are facing. He
said “we discussed the need to use this important occasion of our 50
years anniversary to add more cooperation between the ECOWAS countries
and to from now onwards ensure the source of African solution to
improve our socio-economic status and build our sub-region.” He added
that Mr. Gbagbo used the occasion to “call on Nigeria to be used as a
pad for cooperation and development in the West African sub-region.” In
his support for the celebration of the golden jubilee, despite the huge
developmental challenges facing the countries, Mr. Sambo said the
celebrations offers the opportunity for countries to meet, reflect and
chart a new direction so that “we can transform our society and drive
away poverty among our people.” The high points of the celebration was
the parade of friendly nations’ flags including that of Nigeria; the
parade by the wives of military and paramilitary personnel and that of
a crop of 50 youthrepresenting the next 50 years of that country and
also the conferment of national honours on some deserving foreign and
Ivorien citizens.

The Vice President
was accompanied by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Idi Hong,
Special Adviser to the Vice President on Special Duties, Isaiah Balat
and other top government functionaries.

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RED CARD: The embarrassment of the Lagos Youth Cup

09/08/2010 No comments

RED CARD: The embarrassment of the Lagos Youth Cup

One of the passions of Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola is sports, specifically football.

Since he assumed
the reins of leadership in Lagos he has tried to sustain the momentum
of sports development, which went into high gear in the closing days of
the Bola Tinubu administration.

His passion for
developing sports at the grassroots is easily seen in his support of
initiatives like the Principals’ Cup as well as the transformation of
sports facilities like that at the Campos Square as well as the
completion of the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

An avid football
fan he never passes an opportunity to play the game and has helped in
no small way in the rehabilitation of some former footballers who would
have faced starvation but for his intervention.

That is why the
organisation of the Lagos International Youth Cup, which ended
yesterday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium is very embarrassing to say the
least.

The tournament was
designed to be forum for youngsters to express themselves and afford
the state government an avenue to nurture a new generation of players.

But what we saw during the tournament has left a sour taste in our mouths.

For a tournament,
which had been on the cards since last year, with the state government
reported to have paid sixty thousand Euros (over N11 million) to each
of the three invited teams from outside the country, it was irritating
to see teams playing to empty seats in the stadium.

Dropping the ball

According to the
plan for the tournament, secondary school students who are presently on
holiday and who live around the vicinity of the stadium were supposed
to have been mobilised to fill the seats in the stadium if for nothing
else, at least to encourage the young players strutting their stuff on
the pitch.

So what went wrong?
Who dropped the ball? Who were the officials that allowed the sorry
spectacle of youngsters looking to make their mark in the game, some of
whom travelled thousands of kilometres to come to Nigeria for a
tournament to play in a stadium completely devoid of spectators?

It is disheartening the way we do things in the country. We have a habit of making simple chores appear extremely difficult.

If the officials to
whom Fashola entrusted the assignment of organising the tournament knew
they were racing against time, why didn’t they ask for more time. Some
of these officials were in South Africa to witness the World Cup and
they could not have failed to have notice how Danny Jordaan and his
team mobilised South Africans for the tournament to the extent that
long after the South African national team had been eliminated, players
were still playing before large crowds of spectators.

In a country where
children are passionate about football it is sad that organisers could
not get them into the stadium to watch their peers. Go through the
inner streets of Lagos and you will see children playing football with
just about any object imaginable. In Surulere, where the Teslim Balogun
Stadium, venue of the tournament is situated, it is common sight to see
clusters of lads knocking the ball around, so why couldn’t they lure
them to watch the action in the stadium? Was it that there was
insufficient fund for publicity or a few individuals among the
organisers decided to be smart?

Carrying the can

The embarrassment
was not limited to the organisation of the tournament. In terms of
performance, the Lagos state team was thoroughly outclassed. The
humiliation of the Lagos squad was underscored by a 7-1 drubbing by
South Africa’s Super Sport United in their second game after they had
been beaten 2-1 by Liberty FC of Ghana.

Now, it is not
criminal to lose matches. Even the best of teams get beaten now and
then. What is unacceptable about the performance of the Lagos team are
the excuses being advanced. Coach of the squad, Joe Erico, speaking
after the loss to Liberty United said his team lost because he did not
have good knowledge of his players as it was only put together 12 days
before the tournament commenced.

He said players were in school and so could not come together before the time they did.

Twelve days to prepare a team for an international football
competition for which the Lagos State government had committed millions
in taxpayers’ funds! It is simply criminal. Was the Commissioner of
Sports aware of this? If he was and allowed this to happen then he
should rightly hang his head in shame. If he wasn’t then it shows he is
not on top of things. Either way, the buck stops on his table. He
should carry the can.

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Killing sports slowly

09/08/2010 No comments

Killing sports slowly

Nigerians are
currently delirious with the performance of the Falconets at the just
concluded FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany. While there is
nothing wrong with being happy for the moment, Nigerians wonder whether
this ‘victory’ will be repeated any time soon in other cadres of our
football.

The answer to that
question is no, according to Paul Bankole, a United States of America
graded coach, who is a part of the Brazilian School of Football
Excellence.

“Nothing is wrong
with Nigerians celebrating the triumph of any of our national teams but
we will just be happy for some time, very soon we will be saddened by a
woeful performance and then we will start comparing it with our success
but this should not be the case.

“If there is a
concerted programme on the ground then we will know that this kind of
victory will be sustainable as the pool of players will be very wide to
choose from and the next set of Falconets will have been waiting in the
wings.

I am sorry to burst
anybody’s bubble but we may not have this victory repeated for another
20 years – this is what you will call a miracle – we did not plan for
this, it just happened,” Bankole said.

He believes this should not be the case if there is proper development from the grassroots up.

“Where are our development centres? Look around Lagos; can you point to one academy of note?

“There is none, and
that is the genesis of the problem. If the country wants to develop
this game, then we must have these centres all around the country and
not only for football. That is why I say that we are just promoting the
game and not developing it.”

Jeremiah Okorodudu, a boxer and Olympian says a win-at-all-cost mentality is the bane of sports development in Nigeria.

“If we have to get
back to the point where new talents will emerge, then we will have to
go through lean periods – when we will not win anything. When we were
growing up as boxers, we had training time, we had a growing up period
before we were called into the national team and my set almost won the
medals for Nigeria. We could not continue because we wanted to make
money quickly, so we did not finish our boxing education. Most of us
never did make it professionally. If we had waited, maybe our stories
will have been different,” he said.

Sports as tool for empowerment

Indeed, the rush to
make quick money by sportsmen has hampered the development of sports in
the sense that athletes don’t want to go through the normal processes
that lead to success.

Bankole says the trend must be reversed and that the right atmosphere has to be created for this to happen:

“If we will
continue to have peace in the land and abroad, then our youth must be
engaged in true sports development. If we look around us, there is so
much potential but we are not getting it right. We need to meet these
young ones at the point of their need and passion. Their need is
education and their passion is sports, especially football. They need
to be educated and their instructors need to be well educated. What we
have now is most of the educators and instructors especially in sports
are illiterates literally. It is what you have that you can give.”

Development of
sports and the athletes has been described as one of the ways that a
country can meet its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This much is
revealed by Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:

“Sport is
increasingly recognised as an important tool in helping the United
Nations achieve its objectives, in particular the Millennium
Development Goals. By including sport in development and peace
programmes in a more systematic way, the United nations can make full
use of this cost-efficient tool to help us create a better world.”

Falilat
Ogunkoya-Omotayo, one of Nigeria’s most accomplished track and field
athletes agrees that grassroots sports development is key to
transformation of sports in the country.

Ogunkoya-Omotayo, who won a bronze medal in 400 metres and silver in the 4×400 metres at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, said:

“I have started a
drive that will help cull grassroots talent in Oyo State. That is the
only way to go if we are to make sure that we do not become extinct in
the coming years.

“We have not made
the discovery of athletes the priority. The draw back now is that the
American Universities that were being used as our athletics academy in
my days are not offering as much scholarships as they used to and there
we have the problem.” She added that the National Sports Commission
(NSC) has an important role to play in getting these upcoming talents
identified.

“No organisation
can have the kind of national reach that the government has. The point
when we have credible harnessing points around the country is the time
when the government can have a laid back attitude towards youth
development. But as of now, they have a prominent part to play and they
must not shirk this responsibility,” she said.

For Bankole, government’s intervention will involve going back to the basics.

“Look at the Games
Masters in the primary and secondary [schools]; the fact is that they
are not well equipped for the task they have been handed. The bad part
is they are the first points of contact with these young ones and once
they get it wrong then there is no foundation,” he said.

Former stars as model

It has been said
that a key part of the development of sports in the country will have
to involve former stars getting into administrative positions in their
various disciplines. Presently former Nigerian sportsmen like Sunday
Bada, Ikana Mbora and Toyin Aluko are playing key roles in some sports
federations.

In football, four
of Nigeria’s former football stars – Christian Chukwu, Segun Odegbami,
Mutiu Adepoju and Austin Okocha – are vying for positions on the board
of the Nigeria Football Federation.

Bankole said that
while their aspirations are legitimate, more good will come out of the
Okochas of this world, working with the next generation of footballers
so that we can have replacements for his like.

“Okocha is so
highly rated across the world that the question we are asked when we go
abroad especially in Brazil and America is – ‘What is Okocha doing
now?’. Yes, it is good to want to administer the game but more fruits
await him if he will mentor the next generation. What will happen if we
can have an Okocha clone every ten years?

That is what Jay-Jay should be doing – running clinics and academies for the next generation of football stars,” Bankole said.

“If we really want
to develop the game into a multi-million dollar industry that it should
be – then players like Okocha must mentor part of the next generation.

The young ones
should be educated and the educated ones we have now, who have no jobs
must be recruited to be the agents, managers, referees for that next
phase of our development. Education in sports is the solution. What we
have now is that those that are supposed to influence are followers.

“We need to change that mind set and make sure that those handling
our sports are mentally and technically equipped for the task at hand –
that is the only way that we will start to get out of the rut that we
find ourselves. Let us not wait until countries like Libya, Iran,
Qatar, Benin Republic begin to beat our national teams before we know
that we have to develop our system of recognising, harnessing and
developing the numerous talents that we have in our midst.”

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The drama of the Super Four ends in Ijebu-Ode

09/08/2010 No comments

The drama of the Super Four ends in Ijebu-Ode

After three days of
exciting football artistry, the Super four competition taking place in
Ijebu-Ode will be rounded off today at the Gateway International
Stadium.

At stake are a prestigious trophy and the sum of five million naira for the team which will emerge as champion.

The Super Four
competition, showcasing the best four teams in the country, has helped
bring to the limelight some outstanding players with the best clubs in
land. For some of the teams, the tournament also avails them the needed
opportunity to test new buys while others give some of the fringe
players a chance to prove their worth before going into the new season.

However, a major
worry at the competition was the absence of national team coaches at
the onset, though players still hope they will be on hand today to
witness the final matches that will be played, with a view to seeing
some good players that could be handed invitations to the national
teams.

Charged for the title

As expected,
Enyimba International of Aba will attempt to maintain its dominance on
the home front by adding the Super Four title to its cabinet already
overflowing with silverware. Enyimba beat Kwara United 2-1 on Friday,
to remain on top of the table with six points. The ‘People’s Elephants’
as the team is known by its fans, will be playing against arch rivals,
Kano Pillars, in the final fixture of the competition. Pillars lost by
a lone goal to Sunshine Stars of Akure in its second match played on
Friday, to leave it with just the one point it garnered from its 0-0
with Kwara United on the opening day of the competition.

For Enyimba, who
were recently crowned as Champions of the Nigerian Premier League, the
match will be a testy one, as the Pillars have a knack for raising
their game whenever they confront the Aba side. An added reason for
Pillars to fire full throttle is the fact that Enyimba beat them to the
league title on the last day of the league, with a 2-1 in Aba.

Okey Emordi,
Enyimba head coach, says his team has what it takes to repeat the form
which won it the league title during the regular season.

“Enyimba is not a
small team and one thing that we know how to do is to win trophies. We
are here in Ijebu-Ode to confirm our supremacy and win the trophy,”
boasted the 2005 best coach in Africa.

The Super Four
competition, which is strictly for the first four finishers in the
regular league season, is in its third season, with Enyimba also the
defending champions.

The Aba Elephants
who were recently eliminated from the CAF Confederations Cup are also
in the finals of the Federations Cup which will be played in Lagos
later in the month.

Already, the team’s captain Okey Odita, says his hands are already itching to lift another trophy with his team.

“It has been a
tough season for us both on the local scene and on the continent but
one thing that keeps us going is the thought of lifting trophies,” he
said.

His teammate,
Atanda Sakibu, is also brimming with confidence. Sakibu opened the goal
scoring account for Enyimba in this tournament after his lone strike
shot Enyimba to the top of proceedings on the first day against
Sunshine Stars, and he is already looking forward to scoring more goals
in today’s game.

“They are all good
teams but they cannot stop us. We want to appeal to all our fans to
come out en-masse to support us on Sunday and we promise we won’t
disappoint them,” he said However, Pillars coach, Salisu Yusuf, says he
is not fazed by the antecedents of Enyimba, while also pointing out
that he has more than revenge in his mind going into today’s game after
being denied the league title by his opponents in the just concluded
season. “It was a painful loss to Enyimba last time out, no doubt, but
that is gone; our focus is strictly on winning today’s match and not
talking about revenge or no revenge,” the ex-international said.

Kano Pillars are
playing the Super 4 competition without their hit man, Ahmed Musa, who
is currently on national assignment and who will also be heading for
the Dutch League next season to play for VVV Venlo.

The other match

In the other match
of the day, Sunshine Stars of Akure, which shocked Pillars on Friday by
running away with a 1-0 victory, will come up against Kwara United.

Kwara United, which
recently appointed Kadiri Ikhana to tinker the team after the sack of
Justin Tenger, will be hoping to improve its fortunes with their new
soccer tactician who is acclaimed as one of the best coaches in the
land.

The team, which finished fourth on the league standings, will be making its debut in the CAF Confederations Cup next season.

A good tournament

Assessing the
tournament, Davidson Owumi, chairman of the NPL board, says the quality
of football in the competition has been high, adding that it can only
get better in subsequent editions.

“I believe the
tournament has been a success; the teams have demonstrated a high level
of professionalism in their approach to the games, and any team that
emerges as winner will know it truly deserves it,” he said. Owumi, who
was himself a product of the local league, commended the Ogun State
government and people for the support rendered towards making the
season’s tournament a reality.

“I must register
our profound gratitude to the government and people of Ogun State for
being good hosts; the excellent facility they have availed us is really
commendable and appreciated,” he said. Meanwhile, the congress of the
Nigeria Premier League was held yesterday where members deliberated on
the new road map for the local league.

Top on the agenda
was the welfare of players and coaches of the different clubs taking
part in the League. The new board stated its intention to protect both
the players and coaches’ interests in the upcoming season, as no club
will be registered without providing a clear contractual agreement
between it and its players and coaches. Other issues discussed include:
providing good playing surfaces, which will give the league a better
outlook on television, as well as the need to impose stiffer
punishments on teams that foment trouble in the new season.

A tentative date of September 25 has been fixed for the commencement of the 2010/2011 season.

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