The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Bitrus Bewarang

  • BITRUS BEWARANG: How I dumped pilot ambition for football

    Former Green Eagles and coach of Nigeria’s Olympic team, Bitrus Bewarang has revealed his childhood ambition to become a pilot.  Football, according, to him was an accident.

    “When I was growing up, my ambition was to become a successful pilot,” began  Bewarang in an interview with our correspondent.“I wasn’t good in mathematics and physics but liked geography. I had to relax and dumped my pilot ambition. Football was an accident to me. My captain in school encouraged me to play football.”

    Bewarang, who has been in the football circuit for almost five decades, is a folk hero in Plateau state, where he led the darling local team , Plateau United  at one time or the other as coach, team manager and general manager. “From school, I proceeded to play in regional and national competitions and I was promoted to the senior national team; the Green Eagles in 1977,” the amiable former Super Eagles’ assistant coach further explained.

    He continued: “ My contemporaries were Christian Chukwu, Segun Odegbami and Adokiye Amesimeka but my adventure in soccer ended when I sustained a career-threatening injury in the Jos derby on  December  17th 1977.

    “Following the creation of states, the Sports Council recruited me and I was made the coach of Plateau State. I was sent on a coaching course in Germany, where I did a nine-month coaching course and I later returned for a coaching course at the National Institute for Sports (NIS) in Nigeria where I was a pioneer student,” noted Bewarang as he speaks about his humble beginning and related matters in an interview with TUNDE SHAMSUDEEN. Excerpts…

     

    Brightest moment as a coach

    There were  many moments  to cherish and remember. Among them was  winning the 1999 Challenge Cup final with Plateau United. Before that time, teams from Plateau state had lost 12 times in the final. We were accorded good reception. God saw my efforts and I was made the coach of the national  U-23 team. The team qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia. Another good moment for me was when I was made the General Manager of Plateau United after the team spent seven years in the second tier division. Furthermore, the person I recommended as the General Manager of Plateau United went on to make history to help the Peace Boys win the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) for the first time in the history of the club in 2017.

    Super Eagles at  Russia 2018  FIFA World Cup

    There is no phobia at all. Our boys tend to perform whenever they are pitched against top teams in the Group of Death. At USA 1994 and France 1998, the Super Eagles qualified with a game to spare. There are no pushovers  in the World Cup. Don’t forget that the Super Eagles recently defeated Argentina 4-2 in a friendly match and that has sent fear to the spine of other teams in the Mundial. I believe that this current set of players have what it takes to surpass the second round at  Russia 2018.

    Legacy as NFF’s Technical Director

    Honesty, sincerity and professionalism are needed in life. In future, posterity will judge us. My plan is to ensure that Nigeria win laurels during my tenure as the technical director of the NFF.

    Children’s ties with football

    Education is the best legacy one can give his children. My children have been engaged in one way or the other in sports. One of them is a Chemical Engineer and played for Plateau United and Remo Stars in the past. I always pray for them to perform well in their chosen careers.

    Message to football fans

    They should stay close to God. When you do things with the fear of God, all will fall into place.

    Doing  domestic chores at home

    I must be sincere with you; my late wife took it upon herself to manage the home and tried her best to train the children. I didn’t really have the chance for domestic chores. I was given 10 hours to train as the state coach alongside James Peters. The result of my wife’s efforts is that my three children are graduates. I give special kudos to my dad, who was a Reverend father. I come from a royal family; a large and loving Christian home.

     

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  • BITRUS BEWARANG: I dumped piloting ambition for football

    Former Green Eagles and coach of Nigeria’s Olympic team, Bitrus Bewarang has revealed his childhood ambition to become a pilot.  Football, according, to him was an accident.

     “When I was growing up, my ambition was to become a successful pilot,” began  Bewarang in an interview with our correspondent.“I wasn’t good in mathematics and physics but liked geography. I had to relax and dumped my pilot ambition. Football was an accident to me. My captain in school encouraged me to play football.”

    Bewarang, who has been in the football circuit for almost five decades, is a folk hero in Plateau state, where he led the darling local team , Plateau United  at one time or the other as coach, team manager and general manager. “From school, I proceeded to play in regional and national competitions and I was promoted to the senior national team; the Green Eagles in 1977,” the amiable former Super Eagles’ assistant coach further explained.

    He continued: “ My contemporaries were Christian Chukwu, Segun Odegbami and Adokiye Amesimeka but my adventure in soccer ended when I sustained a career-threatening injury in the Jos derby on  December  17th 1977.

    “Following the creation of states, the Sports Council recruited me and I was made the coach of Plateau State. I was sent on a coaching course in Germany, where I did a nine-month coaching course and I later returned for a coaching course at the National Institute for Sports (NIS) in Nigeria where I was a pioneer student,” noted Bewarang as he speaks about his humble beginning and related matters in an interview with TUNDE SHAMSUDEEN. Excerpts… 

     

    Brightest moment as a coach

    There were  many moments  to cherish and remember. Among them was  winning the 1999 Challenge Cup final with Plateau United. Before that time, teams from Plateau state had lost 12 times in the final. We were accorded good reception. God saw my efforts and I was made the coach of the national  U-23 team. The team qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia. Another good moment for me was when I was made the General Manager of Plateau United after the team spent seven years in the second tier division. Furthermore, the person I recommended as the General Manager of Plateau United went on to make history to help the Peace Boys win the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) for the first time in the history of the club in 2017.

    Super Eagles at  Russia 2018  FIFA World Cup

    There is no phobia at all. Our boys tend to perform whenever they are pitched against top teams in the Group of Death. At USA 1994 and France 1998, the Super Eagles qualified with a game to spare. There are no pushovers  in the World Cup. Don’t forget that the Super Eagles recently defeated Argentina 4-2 in a friendly match and that has sent fear to the spine of other teams in the Mundial. I believe that this current set of players have what it takes to surpass the second round at  Russia 2018.

    Legacy as NFF’s Technical Director

    Honesty, sincerity and professionalism are needed in life. In future, posterity will judge us. My plan is to ensure that Nigeria win laurels during my tenure as the technical director of the NFF.

    Children’s ties with football

    Education is the best legacy one can give his children. My children have been engaged in one way or the other in sports. One of them is a Chemical Engineer and played for Plateau United and Remo Stars in the past. I always pray for them to perform well in their chosen careers.

    Message to football fans

    They should stay close to God. When you do things with the fear of God, all will fall into place.

    Doing  domestic chores at home

    I must be sincere with you; my late wife took it upon herself to manage the home and tried her best to train the children. I didn’t really have the chance for domestic chores. I was given 10 hours to train as the state coach alongside James Peters. The result of my wife’s efforts is that my three children are graduates. I give special kudos to my dad, who was a Reverend father. I come from a royal family; a large and loving Christian home.

  • Reps summon security chiefs over Maigari’s detention

    Reps summon security chiefs over Maigari’s detention

    Nigeria’s top security chiefs have been asked by the House of Representatives to explain why Nigeria Football Federation president, Aminu Maigari was detained without any charges brought against him.

    Maigari’s detention stopped him from presiding over the NFF general assembly on Tuesday, africanFootball.com reports.

    However, the NFF president has said he would not to take any legal action for his unlawful arrest, saying God will remain his refuge.

    Several football stakeholders in Nigeria spoke at a Friday public hearing called by the House of Representatives to address the crisis.

    The chairman of the NFF technical committee, Chris Green, gave a graphic account of their harrowing experience at the anti-robbery squad cells in Abuja, where he and Maigari were kept on Tuesday.

    “It was a most dehumanising ordeal,” said Green, whose narration caused several of those attending the hearing to weep.

    Chairman of Nigeria Coaches’ Association, Bitrus Bewarang, equally produced a Plateau State White paper which indicted Chris Giwa.

    He closed his presentation by warning this revelation would put his life in danger.

  • Nigerian coaches plan CAF license courses

    The National President of the Nigerian Football Coaches Association, Bitrus Bewarang, has promised that the body will help enhance the knowledge of local coaches, by organising courses for them.

    Bewarang specifically promised that in the year, that his Association would organize the CAF license courses to enable coaches meet up with those from other African countries:

    “We are very much behind in this aspect. We commend the NFF for their efforts so far in ensuring that our Coaches are graded in the last two years,” he said in a statement made available to futaa.com.

    “But this year, we would take it upon ourselves to organise these courses for our Coaches, so that many of them would be graded before the end of the year. This is to enable us meet the CAF deadline,” he concluded.

  • My suspension laughable — Bewarang

    My suspension laughable — Bewarang

    The General Manager of Plateau United Bitrus Bewarang has described as laughable the recent pronouncement of the Plateau State Football Association that three of its board members have been banned from taken part in football-related activities in the state for the next three years.

    Bewarang, who is the National President of the Nigeria Football Coaches Association, said the pronouncement is an aberration of all relevant rules governing the game of football world wide. “It is unheard off that people would be banned for asking an elected body to account for its stewardship for the past four years .

    “This year is an election year, we demanded from the Chairman on the need for him to call a congress to address certain issues that had to do with the FA. Moreover since the present Board came into office, they have never deemed it fit to call a congress of the FA for once.

    “Recently, there was a complain from the Congress that the FA misappropriated the sum of N8.5million that was generated from the 17 LGAs for the organization of the Governors Cup.

    “As we are talking now, the finals of the competition have not been played and the people are asking questions, an attempt to make enquiries through the relevant bodies we are representing in the Board led to the pronouncement”.

    Continuing, the former national team coach said: “It is laughable because I am a serious stakeholder in the board. I represent the Premier League clubs. The representative of the Professional League Clubs and that of the Nationwide clubs were alleged to be banned.”

    Coach Bewarang said such a pronouncement cannot hold, as the full congress of the FA would soon meet to take some vital decisions on the issue.

    All our efforts to reach the Plateau State FA Chairman proved abortive, as his telephone lines were not reachable .