The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ministry of Youth and Sports

  • Supreme Court fires NFF executive committee

    The Ministry of Youth and Sports on Monday directed the Nigeria Football Federation to comply with the judgment of the Supreme Court which set aside the election into the Executive Committee of the Federation held on Sept. 30, 2014.

    The directive was given in a statement by Nneka Ikem Anibeze, Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung, on Monday in Abuja.

    According to the statement, the supreme court verdict restored the orders of the Federal High Court which set aside the purported election of the current Executive Committee of the NFF. The statement reported Dalung as saying that the directive followed a written notification from the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice requesting the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports to ensure compliance.

    “I have been directed to notify you of  the Orders dated June 5th 2018 made by Honorable Justice M. H. Kurya, sitting at the Federal High Court Jos in respect of the above mentioned suit between Yahaya Adama Vs Alhaji Aminu Maigari.” The order states that the election of the NFF held on Aug. 26, 2014 under the leadership of Chris Giwa be recognised pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed in the case.

    The court order added that the purported ban of the Giwa-led Executive Committee, elected on Aug. 26, 2014 from football activities of the NFF was unconstitutional, null and void. “It is trite law that court orders are sacrosanct and any acts of disobedience to it constitute threat to the rule of law.

    “Consequent upon the above, you are hereby advised to comply with the orders of court made therein which for now, is the valid and binding order of court, in the absence of any other subsisting order or judgment to the contrary,’’ it read.

    Dalung, however, in the statement, directed the parties involved to comply with the order. “This is an order and not from Dalung. I will not want to go to Kuje Prison because of disobedience of court orders.

    “Therefore, I hereby comply with the orders of June 5, while Mr Amaju Pinnick (NFF President) and others are also directed to comply with same.”

  • Imo Assembly passes 41 bills, 114 resolutions in 2 years

    Imo Assembly passes 41 bills, 114 resolutions in 2 years

    The Imo House of Assembly said it passed 41 of the 116 bills presented on its floor in the last two years.

    The Speaker of the House, Mr Iheanacho Ihim, disclosed this in a statement in Owerri on Friday.

    Ihim said 114 motions were also passed as resolutions out of the 120 presented at the same period.

    He noted that other bills yet to be passed were at various stages in the house.

    He explained that “notable among the bills presented in 2017 was the bill for a law providing assistance to privately owned schools and offering free education in the state.

    “Others include a bill for a law prohibiting Female Genital Mutilation which was read for the 3rd time on the floor of the house in March.”

    He said that the house also initiated the process for the domestication of the Violence Against Persons Act in the state during the period.

    Read also: Assembly fails to pass local government autonomy bill

    “A bill for a law to allocate 10 percent of the state revenue to the Ministry of Youth and Sports for sustainable youth empowerment was also presented and advanced to committee stage.

    “In May, a bill to provide legal backing to awards and recognition of worthy citizens of Nigeria and international figures was presented and read for the 2nd time by the former majority leader of the house, Mr Lugard Osuji.

    “The house also conducted public screening of appointees before their confirmation for transparency.

    “As part of our oversight functions, the house also intervened in the gully erosion menace in Obowo local government area, visiting the site and making recommendations on how to tackle the problem,’’ Ihim said.

    He said that the house also waded into the issue of poor power supply in the state, querying the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company ( EEDC ) in Orlu over the six years power outage in the area.

    “The house also dealt with issues of non compliance with its directives following resolutions passed at plenary among others,’’ he said.

    NAN

  • Sports Ministry Declares NBBF Factional Election Illegal

    Sports Ministry Declares NBBF Factional Election Illegal

    The Ministry of Youth and Sports on Monday announced that the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) elections held in Kano was illegal.

    Nneka Ikem-Anibeze, Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, Solomon Dalung disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

    Ikem-Anibeze was reacting to the NBBF elections held in Kano by a faction led by the immediate past president of the Federation, Tijani Umar.

    According to her, the election in Kano has no backing of the Ministry. It is a faction led by Tijani Umar that held illegitimate elections in Kano.

    “The NBBF will hold elections Tuesday alongside 31 others sports federations in Abuja,” she said.

    NAN reports that the election saw Tijani Umar, the North-East representative, as President while Olumide Oyedeji, FIBA World Representative, emerged Vice-President.

    NAN reports that the June 12 elections in Kano came ahead of the one being organised by the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports.

    The ministry had fixed Tuesday for elections into all boards of the national sports federations in the country, with all the federations expected to comply.

    But a disagreement had emerged over the issue of whether or not the ministry has the right to draw up guidelines for the federations.

    NAN reports that the federations are, according to international sports federations’ standards, to be run by constitution/statutes/guidelines duly agreed to by all stakeholders in the federation.

    NBBF had earlier insisted it would conduct its elections based on the guideline prescribed by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the basketball world governing body.(

  • Igali laments uncertainty in Nigerian sports

    Igali laments uncertainty in Nigerian sports

    Having tasted what it takes to compete at global levels in sports, coupled with his managerial experience as an administrator, Daniel Igali is very bitter over the uncertainty in Nigerian sports.
    Igali, President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) has picked holes in the idea of sports federation not knowing their specific budget for a whole year.
    “The idea of sports federations relying on Ministry of Youth and Sports is not too good for our sports. In Nigeria, it is only the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that gets its fund directly from government, while other sports will have to rely on the decisions of the ministry of Youth and Sports. This is not too good for our development and it puts other sports federations on uncertainty level. We cannot continue like this for sports to thrive and this is really affecting other sports. And those in the ministry seem not to understand what sports is all about,” he lamented.
    For the United World Wrestling-organised 2016 Golden Grand Prix holding in Azerbaijan, Igali disclosed that Odunayo Adekuoroye and Aminat Adeniyi have decided to raise funds to be part of the championship.
    Meanwhile, three gold medallists from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and three more from London 2012 headline a field of world and Olympic Games medal winners at the Golden Grand Prix Final getting under way Thursday.
    Rio 2015 gold medallist Taha AKGUL (TUR) will help kick off the freestyle events on the first day of the three-day tourney. while Greco-Roman gold medalists Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) and Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) will bring the curtain down on Saturday.
    London 2012 gold medal winners Togrul ASGAROV (AZE), Sharif SHARIPOV (AZE) and Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) are also slated to compete in freestyle on the first day of wrestling at Baku Sports Hall.
    The tournament holds at Baku Sports Hall and it ends on Saturday November 24.

  • Poor Rio outing: Calls for sports commission return thickens

    With Team Nigeria’s poor showing at the just concluded Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, the call for the return of the scrapped National Sports Commission (NSC) continues to increase.

    Sports buffs believe the official bottleneck in the Ministry of Youth and Sports may have taken its toll on the preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

    They believe through the NSC, the bureaucracy can be eliminated to help in terms of preparation of athletes for major competitions.

    Speaking on local television on Monday, Sydney 2000 gold medalist, Enefiok Udo-Obong blamed the bottleneck in the ministry as a major factor to poor showing in Rio.

    The former athlete who was in Brazil for the Olympic Games said it is high time that the sports federations and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) were empowered to run their various sports.

    “I think the idea of the Ministry of Youth and Sports is another major setback to sports because the bottleneck within the ministry has drawn us back in the sports. Funds should be released directly to the federations to run their various sports while the NOC coordinates and supervises them (federations).

    “It is pathetic that Great Britain that finished below Nigeria at the Atlanta 96 Olympic Games now finished second overall ahead of China while Nigeria managed to pick one bronze medal. We need to do something to help our sports at this time,” he said.

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  • Calls for NSC return thickens

    With Team Nigeria’s poor showing at the just concluded Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, the call for the return of the scrapped National Sports Commission (NSC) continues to increase.

    Sports buffs believe the official bottleneck in the Ministry of Youth and Sports may have taken its toll on the preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

    They believe through the NSC, the bureaucracy can be eliminated to help in terms of preparation of athletes for major competitions.

    Speaking on local television yesterday, Sydney 2000 gold medalist,  Enefiok Udo-Obong blamed the bottleneck in the ministry as a major factor to poor showing in Rio.

    The former athlete who was in Brazil for the Olympic Games said it is high time that the sports federations and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) were empowered to run their various sports.

    “I think the idea of the Ministry of Youth and Sports is another major setback to sports because the bottleneck within the ministry has drawn us back in the sports. Funds should be released directly to the federations to run their various sports while the NOC coordinates and supervises them (federations). It is pathetic that Great Britain that finished below Nigeria at the Atlanta 96 Olympic Games now finished second overall ahead of China while Nigeria managed to pick one bronze medal. We need to do something to help our sports at this time,” he said.

     

     

  • Amputee football federation president laments dearth of sponsors

    Amputee football federation president laments dearth of sponsors

    Abibat Ladidi, the President of Nigeria Amputee Football Federation (NAFF), on Wednesday lamented the poor response of potential sponsors to the body proposals.

    Ladidi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone that the body’s programme of activities for the quarter had not attracted the expected response.

    She noted that as a result of the problem, the federation set up a marketing committee, saddled with the responsibility of getting individual and corporate bodies to sponsor its activities.

    According to her, effort made by the committee to get the attention of enthusiasts has not yielded positive results.

    “The situation of our sport is really pathetic because we have not been able to hold a single programme since this year even with activities lined out in our annual schedule.

    “Instead of depending on the Ministry of Youth and Sports for support, we set up a marketing committee to market the sport so as to attract sponsorship.

    “Unfortunately, promises from some companies and individuals are not forthcoming, hence, affecting our activities,’’ she said.

    The NAFF president appealed to all fans to sponsor of its activities.

    “We have widened the scope of our sponsorship drive to NGOs and religious organisations; we want to bring positive change to amputee football.

    “We will appreciate any support to execute our lined up programmes and purchase crutches, gift items and jersey,’’ she added.