Tag: Elegbeleye

The Director-General of the National Sports Commission, Honourable Gbenga Elegbeleye has hailed President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for the achievements sport has recorded so far which, according to him, is evidenced by the impressive results recorded so far by Team Nigeria at the ongoing African Youth Tournament in Gaborone, Botswana.

Team Nigeria is in contention to emerge the overall winner of the 2nd Edition of the African Youth Games (AYG) holding in Botswana with very keen competition from South Africa and Egypt, but Elegbeleye said the Commission is fulfilled and happy with what the” young shall grow” athletes have done so far.

“You will recall that our dear sports-loving president held a Presidential Sports Retreat shortly after we came back from the 2012 London Olympics where we did not win a medal, and the result of this retreat are the dividends we are reaping now. So, I am using this opportunity on behalf of the National Sports Commission to show our appreciation to Mr. President for leading the way to success in Nigerian sports. The Transformation Agenda of Mr. President in Sports has achieved great success so far.

“I am equally happy with the performance of these young, dynamic, talented and patriotic athletes who have represented our country so well in the ongoing African Youth Games in Gaborone, Botswana. I am happy that we can now see clearly that the future of Nigerian sports is very bright with the performances of Team Nigeria at this competition.

“Barely three days to the end of the competition, Team Nigeria has already surpassed its achievement in the first edition of the tournament held in Morocco, where the country won seven gold medals, two silver and a bronze, total of 10 medals. But right now as I speak with you (Thursday afternoon) Team Nigeria has won 14 gold, four silver and eight bronze medals, a total of 26 medals while the Nigerian football team is scheduled to play in the final this evening (Thursday evening) against Swaziland which I am confident we will emerge victorious”, an elated Elegbeleye disclosed yesterday.

The competition which would be rounded off this Saturday will later produce the overall winner with Nigeria fighting the battle of her life to outwit current leader on the medals table South Africa while Egypt is also pushing hard to win the competition.

• Insists Nigeria is good for CHAN Trophy

The Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Honourable Gbenga Elegbeleye has showered encomiums on the Super Eagles for beating the host team the Bafana Bafana of South Africa 3-1 to sail through to the quarter-finals of the ongoing Africa Nations Championship in South Africa.

“I am very happy with the players for exhibiting the resilient attitude as well as the die-hard attitude Nigeria is known for. Their zeal and great determination saw them through a desperate and very determined host, South Africa.

“I told who cares to listen before the commencement of the competition that the team will make us proud in the competition. Now the team have survived the initial scare of losing 2-1 to group winner Mali in the first group match and have now qualified for the quarter-finals of CHAN.

“The entire team really impress and I commend Coach Stephen Keshi for transforming the team. I am confident of a better performance in the quarter-finals. I want the team to approach the next match as if it’s the final because if they can get to the next stage gradually they will be able to win the Cup a record first time in Nigerian history,” he said.

He, however singled out the captain and goalkeeper of the team Chigozie Agbim and striker Ejike Uzoenyi for praise for leading the team to victory with their heartwarming performances in the match against South Africa.

“I am highly impressed with the captain of the team Agbim who made daring saves to ensure Nigeria’s victory. He has redeemed himself as a good keeper and a capable and competent captain of the team.

“Uzoenyi is simply fantastic and has proved to the technical crew why he should be a regular member of the squad. I am very happy with the team,” Elegheleye told SportingLife shortly after the match.

• Eyes better performances in 2014

The Director General of the National Sports Commission, Honourable Gbenga Elegbeleye has thumbed up the successes recorded in sports in the year 2013 and believes that the year 2014 would be better if Nigerian sports stakeholders continue to work very hard, in unity and continue to show strong passion for the development of Nigerian sports.

He also praised to high heavens the support given to the Commission by sports federations and other sports stakeholders and urged them to continue in this manner so that the year 2014 would be a better success story compared with the outgoing year.

“We must thank Almighty God for the successes recorded so far in the outgoing year (2013). Also kudos goes to the entire staff of the National Sports Commission under the leadership of the Honourable Sports Minister, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi and to all the sports federations and other stakeholders in the country for the successes recorded so far this year.

“In other to consolidate on what we have achieved so far we need to develop new talents to replace the ageing ones. We are happy that the just concluded National Youth Games has produced some of the talents we need, but we will still need to work hard to get more. We also need to equip our high performance system since we have a high performance system (directorate) at the NSC now.

“Also some other sports federations are in camp now (for preparations for Commonwealth Games and other competitions). Also our weightlifters recently won eight (8) gold medals in the Commonwealth Championship, also our wrestlers did well in South Africa and Handball team emerged third best in the world Championship in Mexico recently too. We shouldn’t forget in a hurry that the Super Eagles emerged African Champion after winning then Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in South Africa this February. Also just last month (November 8, 2014) the Golden Eaglets won the FIFA U- 17 World Cup so we need to thank God for all these feats achieved this year.

“So it’s been a very good year for Nigeria really but we want the year 2014 to be a better year Nigerian sports. In doing so we need to consolidate and plan ahead and that is why we have given room for our federations to sponsor all athletes available that can gain experience through international competitions to compete with the best in the world so that they can have better understanding and the chance to bring more medals to Nigeria”, he summed up.

Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Honourable Gbenga Elegbeleye has urged the Super Eagles to take their Group F opponents; Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Argentina seriously in the 2014 World Cup and prepare adequately for them in order to fare well in the competition.

The sports administrator told SportingLife at the weekend that he was happy with the the World Cup Group F Draw from which he believed Nigeria can easily book her ticket to the second round of the 2014 World Cup.

He charged Super Eagles Chief Coach, Stephen Keshi and officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to commence preparations in earnest for the World Cup so as to ensure they get the maximum six points before meeting favourites, Argentina in the last group match.

“The fact is that we have to be careful of those so-called smaller countries because they fought hard to qualify for the World Cup. So, Stephen Keshi and the NFF officials must be be very careful and prepare well.

“The good thing is that the Super Eagles would be meeting the group and World Cup favourites in the last match of the group and maybe by then they would have garnered the maximum six points from the first two matches, which will then make them approach the last match with less pressure and more confidence,” Elegbeleye said.

The D-G expressed confidence in the ability of the Super Eagles to do well at the World Cup.

“I have absolute confidence in the ability of the team to live up to expectations at the World Cup. The Eagles have been improving since they won the African Nations Cup in February in South Africa. I am particularly happy with the team’s impressive performance in the friendly match against Italy in London recently.

“The National Sports Commission is ever ready as always to throw our weight behind the Nigeria Football Federation to ensure the Super Eagles get one of the best preparations for the Mundial holding in June next year”, Elegbeleye assured.

The Director General of the National Sports Commission, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye has corrected the impression that officials of NSC are corrupt saying that they are honourable men who are doing their best to move the sports forward in the country.

Elegbeleye noted that the barrage of attack the NSC has received in recent times were baseless and “labelling the officials of the Commission as corrupt people is totally unfair on us”.

“A lot of people are not aware of how committed and dedicated we are and the result of our dedication will soon start to manifest. We are undeterred by uncomplimentary statements for now but people should make constructive comments and also try to ask questions to clarify claims.

We have been working hard to lift sports despite our limited resources and critics should commend us for what we have done so far and still doing, not to discourage us because we have laudable programmes and plans that will soon start manifesting.

Elegbeleye disclosed that the commitment of NSC and the number of activities the Commission is faced with requires better budget than what they receive from the Federal Government for now adding that until the budget is increased the Commission will continue to manage the resources at their disposal.

According to him, the amount of allocation they receive in relation to the huge commitment before them means there is no money for any one to steal.

“I am only new in this place but in my brief period here I have come to see that the Commission’s allocation is grossly insufficient for NSC to carry out its programs which include producing and nurturing athletes to international standard, also the various stadia facilities in the country and much more”. So where will they get the money to embezzle to the extent that people have labelled them?

“This is the most disturbing aspect of all these allegations. It is affecting the way corporate bodies look at us now. Nobody would love to put money in a place where negative impressions have been created,” he said.

Elegbeleye also cleared air on the issue of the drainage of the Abuja National Stadium which the House Committee on Sports who were on an oversight inspection to the Abuja National Stadium said was badly done recently,

“I have travelled abroad to watch matches and at one time I used the opportunity to watch one of their league matches and lo and behold there was a heavy down pour that delayed the match for one hour to allow the water on the field to drain. Now that was Greece, not an Africa country, but in our own situation the water was on the pitch for less than thirty minutes and the match continued. More so, the people that handled the pitch are the same people that built the stadium and the best construction company in the country,”

On financing of the stadium re-grassing, the NSC DG Stressed that the funding for the stadium was directly from the minister of finance whose committee handled the project of re-grassing the pitch after the President Goodluck Jonathan intervened on the matter.

The House of Representatives Committee on Sports has promised to give its full support to ensure that the newly appointed Director-General, National Sports Commission (NSC), Hon. Gbenga Elegbeye succeeds in his assignment.

This pledge was made by the Chairman of the House Committee on Sports Hon. Geoffrey Gaya when he and some members of the Committee, past and present paid a courtesy call on the Director-General in his office on Friday.

Hon. Gaye told the DG that the House Committee on Sports knows that the NSC is one of the least funded government agencies inspite of the importance of sports in Nigeria and the numerous successes and contributions Nigeria sports has made in the international scene.

He therefore promised that the Committee will work with its counterpart in the Senate to ensure that sports is properly funded.

Hon. Gaye advised the new DG to give special attention to sports development at the grassroots and find a way of completing community sports projects which are currently being handled by the Commission.

He reasoned that since most schools do not have adequate sports facilities in the rural areas, the community sports centres will provide opportunities and venues where the youths can develop their talents in sports.

Former Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Bello Suleiman who was in the team that visited the Director-General advised Hon. Elegbeleye to always consult former Ministers and Directors General who were at the NSC on issues that need further briefing and better understanding, adding that he should endeavour to work with his former colleagues in the House Committee on Sports.

Responding, the Director-General Hon. Elegbeleye thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for giving him the opportunity to serve. He also thanked his visitors and promised to deliver on his mandate at the Commission since sports is a familiar terrain to him.