Sports

Our Aspiration is to have best 2024 Olympics outing, House committee on Sports

Published

5 months ago

May 31, 2024

…Gives NOC President Gumel Five-day Ultimatum To Appear Before Committee

Joel Ajayi

The House Committee on Sports on Thursday has revealed that the desire of the green chamber is to ensure better preparation that will bring best result for the team Nigeria for the forthcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, not to fighting anyone.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Sports, Hon. Ekene Adam, stated this after it rescheduled meeting with the NOC in Abuja to assess the country’s preparation for the forthcoming 2024 Olympics in Paris, France.

He explained that although some people think he is fighting them, the aspiration of the House is to see the advancement of sports in the country.”

According to him, the president of the federal republic of Nigeria, his Excellency, President Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu is keen and concerned about the impact of sports on its citizens, and as such, the committee is saddled up to interface with the NOC to know how prepared they are in the build up to the games—–knowing that the Olympics is a serious business that should not be treated with kids gloves, as winning will not occur on grounds of serendipity.

“Nigerian’s wants to hear from him about the preparation for the Olympics, the president of the federal Republic of Nigeria has interest in sports, and he demonstrated it yesterday in the one year anniversary celebration to tell Nigerians that he wants to take the country to the next level using sports which is a unifying factor in this country”

“Sports is the only vehicle that gives the synergy to move the country forward, so we just asked the Olympics committee to go and appear before the house by thursday next week so that they can brief us proper over the preparation of the Olympics”

“Anybody that comes here apart from the president on proxy we might say no, so we felt, we should invite him in person, and let him respect the voice of the country to appear before the house next week”

Meanwhile, for NOC members who was at National Assembly Complex without its President, Engr. Habu Gumel, the House Committee on sports Thursday refused to meet with the members of the Nigeria Olympic Committee who was led by the vice president, Chief Solomon Ogba.

However,, the Honourable Ekene Adams led committee issued a five day ultimatum to Engr Habu Gumel to appear before the house to explain to Nigerians their level of preparation ahead of the start of the games.

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Sports

Gusau Praises President Tinubu, ValueJet crew for diligence and endurance

Published

3 days ago

October 15, 2024

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau on Tuesday expressed the deep appreciation of the NFF and the Nigeria Football family for the warm words of encouragement from the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR following the Super Eagles’ return from a better-forgotten Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match adventure in Libya.

On Monday, Mr. President put out a statement warmly welcoming the team back to home, and asking for prompt justice from the Confederation of African Football following the inhumane treatment of the Nigerian contingent. Mr. President also commended the proactive coordination between the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Sports Development in addressing the unfortunate episode and ensuring the safe return of the players.

“We hereby express our deep and sincerest appreciation to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his warm and kind words of encouragement. These words have gone a long way to reassure the players of the firm support of the Government and people of Nigeria for what they do and the efforts and sacrifice they make in representing this great country.

“The commitment and love for the team by the Government and the entire nation was aptly demonstrated by the physical presence of the Honourable Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh at the airport to welcome the team back to Nigeria.

“Mr. President as the father of the nation, has once again demonstrated his concern and keen interest in the beautiful game of football that unites our peoples from all walks of life and across all known mental, physical, spiritual, political and economic boundaries, and which fosters national unity and friendship among peoples and nations of the universe.”

Gusau, who led the delegation to Libya, also commended the captain and crew of the ValueJet aircraft that flew the delegation to and from that country, saying that their patience, diligence, good manners, warmth and endurance made the trip less arduous for the contingent.

“The captain (Mr. Abdul-Latif) and crew were awesome. I must commend, in particular, the captain. He did his job professionally and with a touch of excellence, and even intervened at a point to talk to the airport operatives to allow the NFF leadership to go outside the airport to find a way to hire vehicles for the team. As a fellow North African (Tunisian) who had worked in Libya previously, they were ready to offer him hotel accommodation but not any other member of the crew or any Nigerian, as all the hotels in the city disclosed that they had strict orders not to welcome any Nigerian nationality. He refused their offer and rather opted to sleep in the aircraft with the rest of the crew.

“The captain and crew showed great maturity and kindness. We will never forget them.”

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