11 February 2013
Press
Statement
On behalf of the Nigerian workers we congratulate the Super
Eagles of Nigeria on its victory at the just concluded African Cup of Nations
tournament’s final match which was played at the National Stadium,
Johannesburg, South Africa, thirteen years after Nigeria last won the trophy.
We see in this victory a bright future for Nigerian football,
if we are able to put the right people in the management of sports in general
and soccer in particular.
Some of the Nigerian players are from Nigeria based teams and
with their performance at this tournament, it is clear that given the right
facilities, managers and priority attention, soccer will return as a major
sector and home to our teeming unemployed youths who have the skill and
interest in the sport.
We therefore call on government to review the lackluster
attention sports has received so far by reforming the sector in other to
reposition the sport Industry to conform with contemporary times.
Specifically, we urge the Nigeria Football Federation to urgently
reorganize the Nigerian Football League by providing adequate resources and
facilities that will identify young people from primary schools up to tertiary
educational institutions for consistent trainings, community and inter school
competitions where future national players are identified and engaged by both
the Federal and State Sports Ministries.
The private sector must also renew their interests in the
sports industry by encouraging home based clubs with modern facilities,
sustainable remunerations and exposure to national and international trainings
and competitions. We shouldn’t wait until the next international tournament
before assembling players.
The Head Coach of the Super Eagles, Mr. Stephen Okechukwu
Keshi and all the players must be commended for their dexterity, focus and
patriotic pride which clearly showed in the way he calmly played all the matches.
The Coach and all the players’ professional qualities facilitated the victory
we now celebrate. All the players displayed their commitment and worked as a
team determined to rescue Nigeria from the abyss we have been left for nearly
two decades. They all showed patriotism and must be commended and honoured not
just by government but by all Nigerians.
Government and all stakeholders in the sporting industry must
ensure we sustain this victory and prepare the entire industry for more
victories at home and abroad.
This way, we will rekindle the interests of Nigerian football
fans who have since been lost to the European League and other foreign leagues.
Indeed, if the industry is not rescued quickly, we will not
only lose football fans; we will lose more players to foreign clubs and
leagues. We must not allow what happened to the manufacturing industry,
majority of which have been lost to other countries, to happen to sports, being
another industry with prospect of engaging thousands of our unemployed youths.
Abdulwahed Omar
President
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