Sports
NFSC Demands Yekini’s Immortalisation …As Ogun Donates N2m
The Chairman, Nigeria Football Supporters Club (NFSC), Yisau Olatunde, has called on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to immortalise the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola and the late Rashidi Yekini.
Olatunde made the call in Ibadan in an interview with newsmen on the sidelines of a novelty match to mark the 40-day Fidau prayer for the late Yekini.
Olatunde, who also urged ex-Super Eagles players to come together to honour Abiola and Yekini, noted that both men had contributed immensely to the growth of football in Nigeria.
The chairman said that great sports administrators like the late Abiola, the Pillar of Sports in Africa, should not be forgotten by CAF for his immense contributions to football and the organisation.
He added that great footballer such as Yekini should not also be forgotten by CAF and the Super Eagles for his superb soccer display that had attracted many youths to football.
According to him, the issue of immortalising Abiola, the acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993 election, has been greatly politicised.
He said that Abiola deserved a federal sports complex to be named after him in Nigeria, to further buttress his contributions to the growth of football in particular and sports generally.
The chairman added that the Federal Government should also accord similar honour to other late sportsmen such as Sam Okwaraji.
He said Yekini and Okwaraji left a legacy of honouring national calls without gratification, adding that they were gentlemen to the core.
The chairman said that the late Yekini had on several occasions donated to the growth of the Supporters Club.
“He will be missed a lot. We members of the Supporters Club sympathise with his family while we also prayed that God gives them the fortitude to bear the loss,” Olatunde said.
According to him, the NFSC will institute scholarship fund for Yekini’s children and will also honour him with a posthumous award during the next GLO CAF awards.
Mr Gboyega Okegbenro, General Manager, Gateway Football Club, at the event donated N2 million to the family of the late Yekini on behalf of the Ogun government.
“Rashidi represents a major loss to us and Nigeria as a whole,’’ Okegbenro said.
The match played at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Ibadan, ended 1-0 in favour of Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan against Gateway FC of Abeokuta.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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