Sports
Sports Minister, Others Visit Team Nigeria Camp
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, on Wednesday paid a visit to some Team Nigeria athletes at the Commonwealth Games Birmingham Games Village.
Dare, accompanied by the Engineer Habu Gumel, President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and Banji Oladapo, the Secretary General, congratulated some of the athletes who were part of the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, United States of America.
He urged the athletes to demonstrate the same level of zeal and commitment seen in Oregon, tasking them to stay disciplined and focused.
“I am appealing to you all to stay hungry for success, disciplined and focused on doing our nation proud. Remember, our zero tolerance for doping or cutting corners. Let us win fairly and cleanly,” Dare said.
Team Nigeria dazzles with Buga at welcome party
Meanwhile, Dare was part of the Pan-Commonwealth Innovators in Sports who are brainstorming on various ways to effectively use sports as a vehicle to drive development and peace-building.
The meeting held in Birmingham, focused on how sports can be used to contribute to national development objectives and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda – a global agenda and blueprint that aims to end poverty, protect the planet and make sure all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
The Minister since the beginning of his tenure has prioritised the utilisation of sports for peace building, as well as the reclassification of sports as business, which has the potentials to contribute immensely to the nation’s economy and drive development.
Dare is currently an integral part of the Commonwealth Sports Ministers forum that meets every two years before the Commonwealth Games and Summer Olympic Games. Each meeting focuses on priority sport policy issues and progress made on collaboration and joint work.
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.