Sports
SWAN Mourns Complete Sports Founder
The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) has received with huge shock news of the demise of the founder and Executive Chairman of Complete Communications Limited, Publishers of Complete Sports Newspapers, Success Digest and other Online Publications, Dr Emmanuel Sunny Ojeagbase.
Dr Ojeagbase died on Saturday, 26th February, 2022 in Atlanta, United States of America (USA) after a brief illness at the age of 71.
SWAN recalls his tremendous contributions to Sports Development through his various publications which have provided gainful employments for hundreds of Nigerian youths, including many of our members serving across the country.
The Complete Sports has offered a platform, where many SWAN members practised and even excelled in their chosen career.
SWAN takes solace in the fact that late Sunny Ojeagbase lived a very fulfilled life and will be remembered for enduring legacies he has left behind.
The late media icon made his landmark as the pioneer publisher of sports news in Nigeria, when in 1984 he established the Sports Souvenir weekly newspaper.
He began his career in sports journalism as a stringer at the Daily Times Newspapers in the mid-1970s and due to his dedication and hard work, late Ojeagbase grew on the job and was appointed Sports Editor of Sunday Concord Newspapers at inception in 1980 and Sports Editor of The Guardian Newspapers also at inception in 1983.
With a burning desire to become an employer instead of remaining an employee, late Ojeagbase resigned from The Guardian in 1984 and founded the Sports Souvenir.
Between 1984 and 1994, late Ojeagbase added several other sports titles including Complete Football Magazine, Complete Football International (CFI) and International Soccer Review (ISR) into the Nigerian Sports market.
Complete Football titles played very prominent roles in the development of sports in the country, including Nigeria’s first appearance at the FIFA World Cup at USA 1994 as well as the exploits at the Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games, also in the USA, where Nigeria won two gold medals, an achievement that made him to float the Complete Sports as a sports newspaper in 1995.
SWAN therefore commiserates with his family, entire sports family and pray God to console all; and for his soul to rest in peace.
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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