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U-17 Football : Winning is good, development, transformation of players better – Amuneke

Published

4 years ago

December 10, 2020

Football at the U-17 level is not just about winning, but the development and transformation of players, says Emmanuel Amuneke, 2015 world cup winning coach of the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria.

In an exclusive chat with www.totorinews.com, the 1994 African footballer of the year, he informed that every coach given the assignment to tinker the national team at the U-17 level knows what is at stake, which is to nurture the football talents of the youngsters to greatness in future.

“Every coach wants his team to win, they work hard to help the players to perfect their strategies of winning every game, but at the level of U-17 football, it is quite a different thing entirely,” Amuneke told www.totorinews.com

“You don’t just want to win, but you want to develop young players and transform them to better players that will perform optimally at their best. You want to create in them strong winning mentality that will help them in their career.

“The essence of U- 17 football is simply development. We had seen the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho, Samuel Chukwueze, Victor Osimhen at the Golden Eaglets few years ago and today, the players have developed into playing in the Super Eagles.

Speaking on the present technical crew of the Golden Eaglets led by Fatai Amoo, the former Barcelona winger said that the coach is highly experienced, who is focused on the task to build a very good team worthy of giving Nigerians many chants of victory.

“The new coach is someone that is very experienced, very disciplined professional and he will never compromised his standards no matter the pressure.

“He should be given all the support from the NFF, his technical crew and backroom staff. There should strong unity in the camp, there could be differences of opinion, but that should never derail the sincerity of purpose among his assistants and the backroom staff.

“When I played for Nigeria, i never had any football agent or manager before I represented the country. The only thing I had were my football boots. But today, every player, even the ones below average all have agents that are desperate to see their players in the U-17 national team.

“But I’m happy that the man the NFF gave the job is equal to the task. The wisdom and knowledge he posses will definately help in building a very good team that every Nigerian will be proud of,” he concluded.

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Nigeria Will Take Good Shape In No Distant Time- Olawande

Published

6 hours ago

September 16, 2024

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Minister of State for Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande has urged the citizens of the country to be patient with the Administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in transforming the lives of its citizens through various policies and programs of the federal government.

The Minister made this submission while delivering his speech at the Joint Union Negotiating Council’s week of the Federal Ministry of Youth Development branch. This is the first edition since both Ministries of Youth and Sports had been damaged. The JUNC week which was held at Atiku Hall, Office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation in Abuja had its theme: “The working people in a volatile, uncertain, and complex economy”

In the words of the Honourable Minister: “I urge you to be patient with this administration. In no distant time, the country will take good shape and the lives of its citizens will be transformed”.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not a pauper, he is an acknowledged epitome of wealth, and so it cannot be said of him that he desires to loot the treasury of Nigeria. He has seen money and as a result of this, he is not interested in looting the nation’s treasury”, Olawande explained.

He emphasized that “leadership is all about being committed to serve. If you are a Minister now, tomorrow you will be addressed as a former Minister, likewise a Director because there is no permanent position but the impact that you made while in that office will speak after you”, the Minister reiterated.

Olawande expressed his gratitude to the workers of the Ministry for being supportive of the government policies and programs. He promised that the welfare of the staff would not be compromised, adding that workers deserve remuneration for being hardworking.

Earlier in his address, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Olubunmi Olusanya admonished the staff of the Ministry to put in their best as “Performance Management System” which replaces APER is the criteria to be used for promotion effective next year. This, according to him is because the Performance Management System (PMS) records the best efforts and input of each staff which will in turn be used to grade such staff.

Olusanya who disclosed that the welfare of the staff is his priority as workers deserve the best for the services rendered. He opined that “the hungry man is angry and as a worker, if you are not treated fairly and properly, it is impossible to get the best out of you. As a result, all staff will be treated properly as motivation to propel the best in you”, he concluded.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Esther Didi Walson-Jack, OON, MNI, in her address, informed that the activity to reinvigorate the Civil Service in a bid to ensure that Civil Servants carry out their duties with much diligence to have efficient and incorruptible civil service is currently on course. She advised workers to wake up and be committed to the service of the nation.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Jerry Akume, the General Secretary of the Union expressed his delight in celebrating this year’s edition of the Union week, while highlighting the achievements of the union so far. These include:

Upward review of staff welfare, prompt payment of repatriation allowances, payment of first 28 days allowance, assistance to the sick, general training of staff, and sending forth/retirement package for retired staff.

He also appealed to the Management of the Ministry, saying that irrespective of the aforementioned achievements, a lot still needs to be done in such areas as procurement of staff buses, upward review of welfare payment for festive periods, consistent general staff training, and procurement of office and work materials.

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