Sports
I Inherited Act Of Keeping Records From My Father – Acheru
The author of “A Thousand Times On The Same Road,” China Acheru, has revealed the passion that led him to write the book that will soon be out for sale.
He stated that the act of keeping records of every event he attended was inherited from his father, who was the former Registrar of University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) and Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori, now Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic.
Acheru made the revelation when he spoke on a radio comedy show with “Funky Four” last Tuesday, monitored in Port Harcourt,
According to him, “I came to understand that most people felt attending Nigeria football matches was merely to report the game and results.
“First, I inherited the passion for keeping records from my father who was a former registrar of UNIPORT and Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic.
“I came to understand that people feel Nigerian football stories are all about telling or giving out results of matches played.
“So, when they hear I wrote a football book, they expected it to be all about football results or what happened on the pitch, but this is much more than that,” Acheru said.
The veteran sports journalist, explained that the book was more about a journey than actual football itself, saying that it was borne out of the desire to share a story as it has never been told before.
“The book is an adventure. In the book, you will find love, horror, romance and comedy stories as well as other matters that surround Nigerian football,” he stated.
Acheru is a Port Harcourt-based sports broadcaster and blogger, the first Nigerian that has officially recorded watching one thousand live football games at stadia across the world.
By: Tonye Orabere
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.