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Progress
has been made in Nigerian Rugby circles as rival parties have agreed to
hold talks and find lasting solutions to the leadership crisis that
rocked the sport in the last two years.

As part of the reconciliation process, all interested parties met last week at the Nigeria Olympic Council board room in Lagos.

At the meeting, it
was agreed that fresh elections will be held to give the Nigerian Rugby
Football Federation a more democratic look. The federation is presently
being administered by Racing RFC who won the concession bid in 2009.
But Friends of Rugby a rival group were opposed to the decision to give
Racing RFC the concession, resulting in a battle for control of the
game in the country. A consequence of the crisis was that the country
had been banned from competitions sanctioned by International Rugby
Board (IRB).

In a bid to conform
to the dictates of the International Rugby Board, it was agreed that
all factions would share the different positions amongst themselves to
form a new board. The present Rugby federation board, Racing RFC, will
retain the positions of president and second vice president while the
first vice president will come from the Stakeholders Forum, a rival
faction comprising Friends Of Rugby and other aggrieved groups.

Other positions are
to be contested for by other factions and they include: the zonal
representatives from the six geo-political zones. Also, there is a 20
percent mandatory slot for women representation on the board and the
position of the International Rugby Board representative.

A welcome development

Reacting to the new
development, Tunde Akerele, Chairman of the Rugby Stakeholders Forum
expressed delight at the turn of events. “I want to thank the mediators
for taking the pains to help resolve the crisis, and bring lasting
peace to this young and fledging game in the country.

“I am appealing to
all parties to help the process mature by respecting each other’s
opinion and the positions we have all agreed to.” Akerele also called
on all Rugby Stakeholders to embrace peace and move the game forward.

Ntiense Williams,
spokesperson for Friends of Rugby thanked God for the recent
development, adding that he is looking forward to genuine development
of the game in the country. “This, we hope, will lead to the unbanning
of the Rugby Federation by the IRB,” he concluded.

The list of eligible candidates will be forwarded to the Nigeria
Olympic Committee Secretary General who will produce a comprehensive
list of the unified board which will be forwarded to all parties,
including the International Rugby Board.