Nigeria Content Online

Earlystart Weekend Football Academy, a
three-year-old youth and community development initiative of Godwin
Dudu-Orumen has shifted its 2011 season opening date by one week as a
mark of respect for its first Head Coach/Technical Director, Gideon
Njoku, who died on Tuesday, January 11.

Njoku was a member of Nigeria’s
All-African Games 1973 Football event gold medal winning team. He also
was Chief Coach of ACB Football Club Lagos.

In line with the renewed vigour of the Nigeria Cricket
Federation to grow the game in the country, there is need to teach the teachers
who will be sent to the grassroots to help revitalise the game amongst the
younger generation.

As part of this vision, Federal Government College, Warri Old
Students Association Cricket Club came up with a strategised concept to help
elevate the game of cricket in Delta State. This programme involved training
games masters of schools within the state to enable them raise players for the
various national teams in their respective schools.

The club organized a cricket coaching seminar for games masters
in Warri zone. This zone covered the following local government areas; Warri
South, Udu and Uvwie. There were 10 schools represented and they include:
Ovwian Sec. School, Army Day Sec. School, Hussey College, Glory of Christ
Comprehensive School, Otor-Udu Sec. School, Essi College Junior School 1, Essi
College Junior School 3, Federal Government College, Warri, DSC Technical High
School and Urhobo College.

No knowledge of the game

It was not a surprise that over 80% of the various games masters
in attendance had little or no idea of the game. Cricket was therefore
introduced to them at a basic level. They also had the opportunity of seeing
and feeling cricket equipment such as bats, stumps, balls, etc. An interactive
session was then organized with the participants also which included their
input into about what they knew about the game. Participants were then exposed
to video sessions.

They watched the video,
Sports Science on Cricket, which is also the Biomechanics of Cricket, and also
Wings to Fly with Ogbimi Uthe, Ikemefuna Chinedu and Okoro Blessing explaining
as they watched. Participants also made their observations known as they
watched these videos by asking questions which was immediately dealt with by
the instructors. They also had motivational talks delivered by coordinator of
Warri Cricket Club, Nkanteen Usen.

Participants also had practical session on the field. They were
taken through the basics of batting, bowling and fielding in cricket. They were
shown and taught what to pass across to their kids. The participants also had
their first feel of a match situation. This was achieved by dividing them into
two teams. The participants then applied what they had learnt during the
sessions they had gone through. They were also taken to see a cricket pitch and
practice net.

This was to enable them have an idea of what to do if they
intended setting up theirs in their school. The cricket laws was then read and
explained to the participants. Participants were then encouraged to do their
best in raising a team for their school as an inter-secondary schools
competition was in the works to take place in February 2011. They were however
implored to call on any of the instructors if they had challenges as they
gather and coach their students.

The seminar rounded off with the handing over of practice materials to the
participating schools. These included makeshift bats, practice stumps and lawn
tennis balls, in addition to cricket DVDs.

The
camping of Nigerian junior tennis players earlier scheduled for last
week in Kaduna will now kick off on January 14, 2011, in Ado Ekiti.
This was confirmed by team coach, Mohammed Ubale, who spoke from Abuja.

Ubale, who led the
team to the championship last year said, “We had to change the date
because of the logistics of the tournament which has changed”.

The championship
that is to be played in Accra, Ghana, was originally scheduled for clay
courts but it will now take place on hard courts.

“We had a
correspondence with the Ghana tennis federation which confirmed the
change of courts and the start up date and we had to make our own
changes. But everything has been worked out and the players will
converge in Ado Ekiti from today,” Ubale said.

The camp was
supposed to have held in Kaduna, which has a preponderance of clay
courts, but Ado-Ekiti was chosen after the favourable reviews from last
year when the national team was initially camped there before they
moved to Abuja, venue of the Africa Junior Tennis Championship held in
April 2010.

Umoru Balami, who
will lead the team to the championship, has been described as “a very
promising player” by Dermot Sweeney, the academy director of the
International Tennis Federation (ITF) Training Centre, Pretoria, South
Africa.

“He (Balami) has
got an overall good game for the future. He is expected back in South
Africa by the end of this month or early February,” Sweeny said.

Balami, who has
been training in Kaduna in preparation for the Ghana trip, has just
secured another one year scholarship at the centre. He said he is very
optimistic that Nigeria can come out as champions in the one-week
tournament.

“Last year, we
played well but we were a little bit inexperienced but now, I believe
that I am better prepared for the challenges of the trip.

“Though I know that
other players will have improved also, I believe that I will be able to
hold my own and help Nigeria come out tops.”

Balami got to the
third round of the 33rd African Junior Championships that was held last
year before he headed for the South Africa based ITF Tennis academy.

Ghana won the team
trophy at the 2010 ITF/CAT West and Central African Junior
Championships, courtesy of victories by Elisabeth Kapari and Francis
Akpese over Nigerians in the girls’ and boys’ 14 categories. Nigeria
came second with Umoru Balami, winning silver in the boys’ 16 and under
category. But the Nigerian was defeated by Tunde Segodo of Benin in the
final.

The 2011 ITF/CAT West and Central African Junior Championships will kick off on January 24 in Accra.

World
number one Rafa Nadal put his recovery from a bout of flu to the test
with a rain-interrupted practice session at Melbourne Park Tuesday
ahead of next week’s Australian Open. A fever-stricken Nadal was dumped
out of the semi-finals of the Qatar Open last week by Russian Nikolay
Davydenko and delayed his arrival in Melbourne to try to shake off the
illness. Nadal’s struggles had raised fears the 24-year-old Spaniard’s
bid to hold all four grand slams simultaneously might be in jeopardy,
with doubts over his ability to last seven matches in the often
oppressive heat of a Melbourne summer.

Heat was the least
of Nadal’s problems on a damp but muggy Tuesday, as slippery conditions
on court curtailed his practice session after about half an hour at the
venue’s Margaret Court Arena.

Nadal scooped the
French, Wimbledon and U.S. Open crowns last year and will strive for an
Australian Open triumph to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969
to hold all four slams at the same time.

The Spaniard was
among a raft of contenders warming up at Melbourne Park Tuesday,
including last year’s finalist Andy Murray and former U.S. Open
champion Andy Roddick.

Leading women’s
players Venus Williams and Australian Open finalist Justine Henin also
warmed up, while men’s defending champion Roger Federer and world
number three Novak Djokovic were scheduled for training sessions later
Tuesday. Players’ hopes of acclimatising to Australia’s summer heat on
outdoor courts may come to nothing this week with showers and cool
temperatures forecast throughout. The Australian Open starts Monday.

A
verdict on three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador’s positive
dope test is set to be pushed back to late January, which would rule
him out of the first major race of the season in Australia. The
governing UCI said in a statement that the Spanish Federation
responsible for the case had sought the advice of its legal and
anti-doping departments. The new deadline for the UCI to give the
Spanish authorities their opinion is January 24, with further time
extensions possible. The Tour Down Under starts on January 18.

Three-time tour
winner Contador, one of only five men with victories in all three grand
tours (France, Italy and Spain), has been provisionally suspended since
last August and faces a potential ban of up to two years. The Spaniard
has repeatedly protested his innocence, blaming contaminated meat for
the traces of the banned stimulant clenbuterol found in his urine
sample during last year’s Tour de France which he went on to win.

The 28-year-old has
also threatened to quit cycling if he was suspended. Spanish Federation
President Juan Carlos Castano said: “It’s absolutely vital that we draw
in and use all the expert opinions we can.

“We always want to be 100 per cent sure our verdict is the right one.

“Our disciplinary commission is made up of lawyers, they’re not
medical experts.” The case is widely expected to go to the Court of
Arbitration for Sport CAS after the RFEC publishes its initial verdict.

The Nigeria Rugby Football Federation will welcome conciliation efforts, which will help to develop the game in Nigeria.

Kayode, Oguntayo,
the Chief Executive of the federation, said this in reaction to
comments made by Taoheed Adedoja, the new minster of sports.

While inspecting
sports facilities in Lagos last Friday, Adedoja said he would like to
unite the warring parties in rugby – the federation and Friends of
Rugby – and thereby end the year-long crisis in the game.

Lingering problem

The crisis in
Nigerian Rugby began in 2009 when the National Sport Commission decided
to concession some sporting federations into private hands. The Rugby
Federation was among such federations whose bid was won by a club,
Racing RFC. This did not go down well with the Friends of Rugby, an
organisation committed to the growth of the game in Nigeria, who felt
they were cheated and reported the matter to the International Rugby
Board (IRB). The IRB decided that all warring factions come together
and settle their differences but until then, Nigeria is banned from
taking part in any IRB sponsored tournaments.

After many failed attempt to resolve the problem, the federation is open to intervention by Adedoja.

“The minister is
welcome. We are not against anybody who wants to make their grievances
known so that the game can be better. We are a government body and what
we want is for the game of rugby to be developed. If that would help,
why not?” Oguntayo said.

For his part, Ntiense Williams, spokesman for Friends of Rugby said only an election will satisfy for his group.

“A few weeks back
we called a stakeholders meeting and we have made our intentions clear.
Even the minister acknowledges that people are now getting wiser and
want to do things in accordance with international standards and that
is what we want,” said Williams, who said last year that the federation
has been trying to blackmail him to leave Friends of Rugby and join
them. The federation denied the allegation.

Effect on Nigeria’s ranking

The dispute in the
Nigerian rugby family is taking a toll on the country’s standing in the
sport. In the latest ranking released by International Rugby Board
(IRB), the sports governing body, Nigeria remains stuck in the 90th
position. Oguntayo said this development is the result of lack of
involvement by Nigeria in international competitions.

“This year, we are looking to correct that because our inability to
contest in tournament was what kept us on that low spot. We are going
to compete in a number of Confederation of Africa Rugby (CAR) approved
tournaments and hopefully things would look up from there”.

Unable to re- enact
the form, which saw him score 21 goals in his debut season at the
Merseyside with Everton, Nigerian striker, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, has joined
Championship side, Leicester City on a loan deal for the rest of the
season. The transfer is a move many see as underlining the falling
stock of Nigerian players abroad.

The 28-year-old,
who had a successful medical test yesterday before completing his
switch to the Walkers Stadium from Goodison Park has been struggling
with injury and poor form all season, a fact that has seen him scoring
just once – in a Carling Cup game – all season.

City manager,
Sven-Goran Eriksson has been chasing a big-name striker ever since he
took over the reins at the Walkers, in October and for him, Yakubu fits
perfectly into his plans.

Yakubu is the
biggest signing the club has made since they were relegated from the
Premier League in the 2003/2004 season and the deal could be made
permanent in the summer if things work as planned.

Counting on Yakubu

City will be hoping
Yakubu will have the same impact he had when he joined Portsmouth from
Maccabi Haifa in 2003, when he scored a goal every other game as Pompey
won the title and promotion to the Premier League.

City who are
currently 12th on the log are four points adrift a playoff spot for
promotion into the elite division and will be away to Preston North end
this weekend, a game Yakubu may likely make his debut.

Aside the promotion
chase, City are also still in the FA Cup competition as they would be
away to Manchester City for the replay of their 3rd round fixture which
ended in a 2-2 stalemate last time out. Whilst hoping for a quick
return to the Premiership, Yakubu who joined Middlesbrough in 2005 for
£7.5million and scored 25 goals in 73 appearances before moving to
Everton two years later for a fee of £11.25m, will have to adapt
quickly to life in the championship. He joins other Super Eagles
players such as Kanu Nwankwo, Danny Shittu Sam Sodje, and John Utaka in
the championship.

Uchechi on the radar

Also, City are
reported to also have interest in another Nigerian striker, Danny
Uchechi, and could likely offer him a deal to very soon.

The former Flying Eagle star has spent five years with Charlton and
featured in a trial match at Aston Villa before Christmas, along with
South Africa international Bernard Parker as part of a two-week spell
with City.

Though he has
scored only three goals so far, Shooting Stars striker, Gbolahan
Salami, plans to finish this season as the League’s top scorer. He also
plans to upstage former Kano Pillars hit man, Ahmed Musa, who currently
holds the record of the highest number of goals scored in a season.

Last year, Musa eclipsed the twenty-year-old 17 goals record set by Ishaya Jatau and equalled by Orok Akarandut in 2009.

Salami, who was
among the new signings for the Oluyole Warriors before the start of the
season has been in blistering form for the Coach Fatai Amoo-led side.

“I cannot say i’m
the best but I will try my best to score more goals and finish the
season as the top scorer of the season, I am not fully fit now but I am
working very hard to be the best and I believe I can achieve this,” the
Nigerian Junior international said on his clubs website, www.
shootingstarssc.net.

Worthy signing

Currently in the
Eagles camp preparing for next month’s Obama Cup, Salami was at his
usual best in Shooting Stars last two games – at home to Sharks FC of
Port Harcourt and Niger Tornadoes of Minna. He scored against Sharks
from the spot and set up the second goal, while he provided the assist
for the first goal against Niger Tornadoes.

“We have good
strikers and midfielders in the team; I am very happy and I will
continue to put up a great display in all matches. Our coach is good
and we are all happy with him,” Salami said.

“It is our home
again; this is just two hours from Ibadan. I am very happy the
supporters have come to support us and even Gateway management has
visited us, so we are all happy with what they have done for us” he
said.

Shooting Stars next game will be against Warri Wolves, and the striker is looking forward to a great match.

The death on Tuesday of former Nigerian international, Gideon Njoku, has left members of the Nigerian football community sad.

Njoku’s death comes less than a week after Uche Okafor another Nigerian international died in the United States of America.

“It is truly shocking,” said Segun Odegbami, a former captain of the Green (now Super) Eagles.

“Chief and I were
together recently during the prayer and thanksgiving service organised
for Nigerian sports by the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

We left the church
together and I remember him complaining that he didn’t have a job and I
tried to encourage him that something will happen soon,” Odegbami added.

“It just goes to
show that we are not supermen even though the way we carry on as if we
were. I am truly saddened by his death.”

Also reacting to
the death of Njoku, who was pivotal member of Nigeria’s gold medal
winning 1973 All Africa Games squad, Harrison Jalla, President of the
National Association of Nigerian Footballers (NANF) said the former
international’s death was a surprise.

“I am at a loss for
what to say. Until he died I was in constant communication with him.
Even while he was in the village for the Christmas holiday, we still
spoke a few times. His death has really come as a shock to me. Chief
was a gentleman and a very straight forward person and we are really
going to miss him,” Jalla said.

A big blow to Nigerian football

A close friend of
Njoku, Godwin Dudu-Orumen, a lawyer and former member of the Nigeria
Football Federation’s (NFF) Technical Committee, told NEXTSports that
he is shattered by the death of the former Eagle who also had a stint
as coach of defunct ACB FC of Lagos.

“Chief Njoku was
more than just a friend to me. He was like a brother. He was coach of
my Football Academy and we also met from time to time at the All Stars
to which we both belong. When his son called me two days ago that he
had taken ill in his home town, we had advised that he be brought to
Lagos where he was duly admitted in a hospital. When I called yesterday
(Tuesday) and his son responded, I suspected that something was wrong.
His death is truly tragic,” Orumen said.

When contacted
about Njoku’s demise, the NFF through Ademola Olajire, its spokesman,
said his death was a big blow to Nigerian football especially coming so
soon after the death of Okafor.

“The news of his
death is shocking to us. We are pained that the community of
ex-internationals has shrunk further by the death of Chief Njoku.

We share in his family’s pain because his death affects all of us,” Olajire said.

The NFF spokesman
said the federation will play a role in the burial of the late former
footballer and that it has dispatched a letter of condolence to his
family.

Njoku, who was also at one time Team Manager of Enyimba Fc of Aba,
died from cardiac arrest in Lagos on Tuesday at the age of 63 leaving
behind a wife and children.

With many yet to
come to terms with the sudden death of former Super Eagles defender,
Uche Okafor, another teammate, Mutiu Adepoju has described as
unfortunate the demise of the former Nigeria international. Adepoju
said he finds it difficult to believe that the former player actually
took his life.

“It is just
unfortunate and it came to me as a shock. Uche and I were very good
friends and the last time we saw was at the opening of the Ogbemudia
Stadium in Benin. We spoke about a lot of issues and nothing suggested
that he had anything bugging him so much that he would decide to hang
himself,” Adepoju said.

The 3SC General Manager further said he would remember Okafor more for his diligence and hard work on and off the pitch.

“He was a true
professional and did not joke with any game. It is sad we are going to
lose him in such a manner. I pray God to give the family the strength
to cope at this difficult period and help stop deaths in the football
family,” he said.

Back in the days

Adepoju and Okafor
were key members of the Super Eagles during their playing days. Besides
helping Nigeria win the African Cup of Nations in Tunisia, both were
also members of the country’s World Cup squads in USA 1994 and France
‘98.

Okafor’s body was
discovered last Thursday by his wife in their house in Little Elm, a
town about 30 miles northwest of Dallas, Texas. Little Elm police
detective Oscar Hinojosa said he hanged himself in an upstairs hallway;
a verdict Okafor’s family have not accepted as they have further
requested for a more comprehensive investigation into his death.

The family has however announced that Okafor will be buried in Nigeria.