By Abiola Mujeed, Lagos.
Peace eventually returned to the troubled Nigeria Archery Federation as they have been mandated to hold elections into all the top positions on August 15, 2015.
The directive for fresh elections was given by the World Archery Mediator sent to Nigeria to ensure the return of peace after the suspended Secretary General of the Nigerian Federation, Mr. Olugbenga Boluji, unconstitutionally announced the suspension and expulsion of the sitting president, Dr. Felix Okugbe, without passing through the due process.
The World Archery Mediator, Al-Yousouf Bayjoo, who is also the Vice President, Africa World Archery, stated that ahead of the August 15 elections, the Nigerian Federation must constitute a committee to put together standard Statutes for the running of the sport in the country.
Bayjoo noted that the two groups have been asked to submit the names of eight of their trusted members that would form the core of the federation board. Before this, he said the 16 members must be licensed as practitioners of Nigeria Archery. This, he said, also qualifies them to be full affiliate members of World Archery.
The World Archery Mediator, who also doubles as the President of the Mauritius Archery Federation, stressed that, at the moment, the world body recognises Okugbe as the President of the Nigeria Archery Federation and Olugbenga Boluji as the Secretary-General.
This, he said, would remain so until the August 15 elections that must be conducted and supervised by the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) under the care of Honourable Tunde Popoola.
He appealed that the federation members should continue to work together as one body as anything contrary would mean a possible expulsion of Nigeria by World Archery, a situation, he said, won’t be beneficial to anybody, and not even to him who crazes further development of the sport in Africa. “Nigeria’s suspension by World Archery would mean minus one country for Africa. We don’t want this to happen at all.”
On the issue of the Statutes, he said he has sent a prototype copy of the World Archery Federation and the Mauritius Archery Federation to the email addresses of some of the key members for proper guidance.
He also advised that the Nigerian Federation can adopt some relevant portions of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) Constitution as a working tool.
