The President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Chief Solomon Ogba, accompanied by Olympic 400m relay gold medallist, Enefiok Udobong, former 100m sprinter and now coach with the AFN, Gabriel Okon and AFN Secretary, Mrs Maria Wophill, paid a surprise visit to the camp of the Super Eagles in Abuja where he called for total support for the national team.
Ogba told the Eagles coaching crew that he feels that football and indeed sports in the country was grossly underfunded, hence the recent issue of bonus row in the national team.
He declared that one way by which this could be redressed is to ask all major multinationals to take charge of particular sports, while government will net their expensis off through tax holdidays. “The Federal government can say for instance that the NNPC should take charge of the sponsorship of football in the country, MTN can be directed to sponsor athletics, Glo can handle the league as they are already doing, Nestle Plc, basketball and so on. With that we will have more accountability and government will be relieved of the burden of sports sponsorship and we will make the suggestions to the appropriate quarters”, he quipped.
Keshi who responded on behalf of his technical crew, agreed with the submission of Ogba, and urged sports administrators to stop seeing the athlete and coaches as being in competition with them. “The athletes fights hard for their income because their business is time limited and they must ensure that their future is a bit assured before they quit the scene, hence we see clashes between interest groups in sports often”.
Meanwhile, Keshi has praised the Presidency through the Presidential Task Force, the Sports Ministry and the Nigeria Football Federation over the commissioning of its new headquarters in Abuja on Thursday. “It is indeed gladdening that for the first time in our football history the federation has an office to call its own. We are sure that in the coming years this commendable project will be improved upon by successive football administrators”, Ben Alaiya, Super Eagles Spokesman quotes Keshi as saying.
