Sports
SWAN boss thumbs up FCT minister for rewarding athletes
Bunmi Haruna, chairman of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) FCT chapter, has commended the Minister of Federal Capital Territory Administration for hosting and rewarding athletes who won laurels at the Edo 2020 National Sports Festival.
This is sequel to an earlier announcement by the minister of State for FCTA, Dr Ramatu Aliyu at the FCT award night held in Abuja on August 19, 2021.
The minister announced a N400,000 reward for gold medalists, N250,000 for silver medalists and 150,000 for bronze medalists.
Team FCT won a total of 37 medals, made up of six gold, 15 silver and 16 bronze to finish 15th on the log table. 261 athletes and officials represented FCT at the festival held in Benin City
Haruna commended the Minister’s gesture while seeing it as a welcome development. Adding that it will go a long way in motivating Team FCT to win more medals in future games.
“I want to use this occasion to assure the FCT administration of the support of SWAN in sports development and coverage of events in the Territory,” the FCT SWAN chairman said.
“The Permanent Secretary who represented the minister at the event also deserves our commendation. I also want to give credit to the Director of sports Luka Istifanu and his team for the amount of hard work they put up in preparation and participation of Team FCT at the festival.
“We as the watchdogs of sports in this Territory are impressed but there are rooms for improvement. To the athletes and officials I say kudos.”
He urged the FCT administration to give Team FCT more support to enable an improved outing at the National Youth Games in Ilorin coming up later the year.
Sports
NLO’s Shola Ogunowo Earns Praise for Driving Grassroots Football and Exemplifying Integrity
Joel Ajayi
The Nigerian football community has lauded Mr. Shola Ogunowo, Chief Operating Officer of the Nationwide League One (NLO), for his unwavering commitment to integrity and the development of grassroots football, earning him widespread respect and admiration across the sporting landscape.
In a statement released in Abuja and signed by Okechukwu Okebugwu, Mr. Ogunowo was praised as a transformative leader who has redefined the ethics and standards of football administration at the grassroots level. According to the release, Ogunowo has emerged as a “leading figure in the fight against match-fixing, bribery, and all forms of corruption” that have plagued the lower tiers of Nigerian football for decades.
Through consistent enforcement of transparency, fairness, and accountability, Mr. Ogunowo is steering the NLO toward becoming a credible platform where talent can be discovered and nurtured based on merit, rather than manipulation or favoritism.
“In an environment where shortcuts and compromises are all too common, Shola Ogunowo has remained a pillar of integrity,” Okebugwu stated. “He is restoring credibility to grassroots football by ensuring that fair play, discipline, and professionalism are non-negotiable.”
Since taking over as COO, Ogunowo has spearheaded a number of structural reforms aimed at instilling discipline and operational excellence among participating clubs. These include stricter licensing requirements, performance audits, and compliance monitoring to ensure clubs uphold the league’s code of conduct. His administration has also emphasized youth development, with a renewed focus on coaching education and player welfare.
The result is a reinvigorated Nationwide League One that is beginning to attract renewed attention from fans, corporate sponsors, and local communities. Observers say Ogunowo’s leadership is helping reshape perceptions of grassroots football—not just as a stepping stone to the elite leagues, but as a vital foundation for the future of Nigerian football.
“His leadership is not only impacting the pitch—it’s rebuilding trust, creating real value, and setting a good standard for sports administration in Nigeria,” Okebugwu concluded.
As the NLO season progresses, many stakeholders believe that with figures like Shola Ogunowo at the helm, the future of grassroots football in Nigeria is not only secure, but promising.
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