Sports
FEDUGAM: Committee Warn Against Fielding Mercenaries
The Steering Committee of the 5th Federal Education Sector Games (FEDUGAM 2025) scheduled for Lafia, Nasarawa State has warned that the engagement of mercenaries at the competition would not be tolerated.
The event Consultant, Chief Okeyinka Matt, stated this yesterday at the football draw ceremony while addressing the press with the Deputy Chairman of the FEDUGAM Steering Committee and a Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Education, Olapade Suleyman.
Okeyinka emphasized that any agency caught using non-bonafide staff at the games would be summarily disqualified from the games.
“What’s the essence when you are bringing non-staff to come and compete with members of staff? It doesn’t make any reasonable argument. The idea of the game is to bring the staff together to unwind at the end of the day. So, in specific terms, any agency found infringing on the rules by the Organizing Committee would be sanctioned and the persons involved would be reported to their agencies,” Okeyinka warned.
His position was also reinforced by Suleyman, who noted that the engagement of mercenaries would be counter-productive to the set objective of the games, which was to promote interaction and love among the agencies and the Ministry of Education.
He warned agencies against the temptation of circumventing the directive, noting that doing that would be considered a great offence that would not be taken with levity.
Suleyman similarly assured that resources for organizing the games had been allocated by the Ministry of Education, while the Minister of Education Dr Tunji Alausa has personally signed a strongly worded letter to all the agencies of the ministry to ensure full participation.
“It has never happened. The highest used to be the Director Human Resources signing, but this time to show some commitment and level of commitment, that has been done,” Suleyman said.
FEDUGAM would hold from August 4-10, with the Minister of Education expected grace the opening ceremony billed for August 5.
Earlier Okeyinka said the purpose of FEDUGAM is to bring unity, synergy, and friendship among all the agencies of Federal Ministry of Education and by extension, keep the workforce fit and enable the discovery talents.
The first edition of the games was held in 2017 while the last edition was held in Bauchi.
Thirteen sports will be featured in Lafia, including football, where only six agencies Tetfund, National Commission of Colleges of Education (NCCE), National Teachers Institute (NTI), Ministry of Education, National University Commission (NUC) and National Library are participating.
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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