The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Mohammed Sanusi

  • Defeating Algeria imperative for national pride – NFF

    Defeating Algeria imperative for national pride – NFF

    Dr Mohammed Sanusi, General Secretary, Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF ), on Friday said victory by the Super Eagles over Algeria in their last World Cup match was imperative to uphold national pride.

    Sanusi, who made this known in Abuja said that all necessary preparations were being made for the nation’s male national football team to maintain their lead in Group B of the world cup qualifiers.

    He said that the Super Eagles had all that was required to beat Algeria considering the level of support given to them by the NFF.

    The NFF scribe called on Nigerians to continue to support the team, promising that they would not disappoint the country.

    “The match against Algeria is about national pride and we are doing everything possible to win the match,” Sanusi said.

    NFF had last week released a 24-man list of players for the matches against Algeria and Argentina.

    The Super Eagles, which has qualified for the global event, will play Algeria on Nov. 11 in their last World Cup qualifiers and a friendly against Argentina on Nov.14, ahead of Russia 2018.

    NAN

  • Unity Bank’s capital base hits N80bn

    Unity Bank’s capital base hits N80bn

    Unity Bank Plc’s capital base has hit N80 billion, up from N31 billion in 2014, Mr Thomas Etuh, former Chairman, Board of Directors, has said.

    Etuh, the immediate past board chairman of the bank said in a post-retirement interview in Abuja that the growth was recorded under his watch, between 2014 and 2017.

    Etuh who retired as the bank’s board chairman a fortnight ago, explained that the bank was able to achieve the feat because of its “agric business” banking.

    “You know Unity Bank is number one in agriculture, in terms of agric lending to small holder farmers; we also have a product for youths because youths own this generation.

    “I came into Unity Bank in time of recapitalisation under Mohammed Sanusi as the CBN Governor and we recapitalised the bank to get it to a national bank where it is today.

    “Interestingly, we are leaving the bank in the capital excess of N80 billion from the N31 billion that we met it,” Etuh said.

    According to Etuh, “the successes recorded by the bank did not come without the contributions of its two major co-shareholders, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.

    He said: “Obasanjo and Babangida came up with that name `Unity’ after the merger of some Southern and Northern banks.

    “The merger means a lot for Nigeria’s unity. So, having nine banks from different entities, it behoves on the board to also merge the different banks culture into one; and that, we did to make it a national bank.

    “You can see that the bank has flourished in various products which have brought it to stability, and I won’t say it was achieved singlehandedly; it was a collective effort of the board and management.

    The former Unity Bank board chairman named the merged banks to include Bank of the North, Tropical Commercial Bank, Intercity Bank, African Merchant Bank, First Interstate Bank, New Nigerian Bank and Societe General Bank.

    Etuh said that he retired from the bank to focus on agriculture.

    “I retired to start something new in developing the frontier of the agric sector which has always been my first love.

    “I have given a notice since last year that I will be retiring as the bank’s board chairman after I have spent some years.

    “I am leaving the board of the bank, but am a co-shareholder, so, it means that I am still in Unity Bank. I am retired but not tired,” he said. 

    NAN

  • WAFU Final: Dalung leads Pinnick, others to watch Eagles play Ghana

    WAFU Final: Dalung leads Pinnick, others to watch Eagles play Ghana

    Minister of Youth and Sports Solomon Dalung will lead a delegation of top officials to cheer on the Super Eagles when they clash with Ghana’s Black Stars in Sunday’s WAFU Cup of Nations final.

    A statement from the Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF ) on Saturday said Dalung would be accompanied by the NFF President Amaju Pinnick.

    “Also in the delegation to the Cape Coast Stadium is NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, who arrived in the Ghanaian capital on Friday.

    “Super Eagles’ Technical Adviser Gernot Rohr also flew into Accra on Saturday and will be in the stands.

    “Head Coach of Super Eagles B, Salisu Yusuf is Chief Coach of the A team where Rohr is technical adviser,’’ it said.

    The statement also noted that Dalung has been an ever-present guest in Super Eagles’ most crucial matches in the past year.

    “He undisputable brings a rich vein of fortune around the team with the Eagles now only one win away from a sixth appearance in the FIFA World Cup finals,’’ it said.

    The minister led the Nigerian delegation to the 2-1 win over Zambia in Ndola at the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

    He was equally in Uyo for the 3-1 thrashing of Algeria.

    He was there in Uyo when the Eagles bashed African champions Cameroon 4-0 and also arrived in Yaounde in time to see the 1-1 draw three days later.

    To reach the championship match, the Super Eagles B, who qualified for the 5th African Nations Championship finals after a 2-1 aggregate win over Benin Republic in August, ejected Sierra Leone with a 2-0 win in the first knock-out phase.

    They also drew 0-0 with Mali and Guinea before seeing off hosts Ghana 2-0 in last group phase attrition.

    In the semi finals, CHAN qualifying victims Benin Republic were turned back 1-0, meaning Nigeria has yet to concede a goal in the sub-regional football fiesta.

    Sunday’s match will kick off at 6 p.m. Ghana time (7 p.m. Nigeria time), and victory for the Super Eagles will mean a seventh major trophy for the Pinnick-led administration.

    The administration’s first trophy was the Women Africa Cup of Nations title won by the Super Falcons in Namibia in Oct. 2014.

    It was followed by the Supers and Eagles’ triumph in the COPA Lagos International Invitational Tournament (December 2014) and the Flying Eagles’ Africa U-20 title in Senegal (March 2015).

    The latest being the Golden Eaglets’ FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile (November 2015), the U-23 team’s Africa U-23 title in Senegal (December 2015) and the Super Falcons’ Women Africa Cup of Nations title in Cameroon (December 2016).

  • Super Eagles need more media support – Sanusi

    Super Eagles need more media support – Sanusi

    Mohammed Sanusi, the General Secretary of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), on Thursday appealed for media support for the Super Eagles as they resume their campaign for qualification for major events.

    Sanusi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the media needed to report positive issues which could encourage the players and push them to winning ways.

    “The media stands between the players and fans but when the players realise that reports on them are only negative it discourages them.

    “When the players know that they are being supported at home, they will give their all in a match and that is what we all want to see,’’ he said.

    The General Secretary also advised the senior national team not to underrate any side in the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.

    NAN reports that the Super Eagles will take on the Bafana Bafana of South Africa in Uyo on Saturday in a Group A match of the 2019 AFCON Qualifiers.

  • Flamingoes begin training tour Febuary 19

    Flamingoes begin training tour Febuary 19

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Tuesday in Abuja said the national under-17 women team would leave for a training tour of Faro, Portugal on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

    NFF’s Director of Competitions, Mohammed Sanusi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) the tour was part of preparations for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.

    Sanusi said the team, known as Flamingoes, would be in Faro for three weeks before proceeding to Costa Rica for the World Cup scheduled for March 15 to April 4.

    “The team will be leaving Nigeria on Feb. 19 on a three-week training tour to Faro, Portugal.

    “This is for them to acclimatise, in view of the weather over there in Costa Rica, and for them to play some friendly matches before the competition starts,” he said.

    Sanusi said the NFF had confidence in the team’s technical crew and the players to perform well, going by the preparations they have been having.

    NAN reports that the Flamingoes qualified for the fourth edition of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup without kicking a ball after South Sudan withdrew from the African qualifiers.

    The team has been drawn in Group D with Mexico, China and Colombia for the tournament.

  • NFF: No yuletide break for Falconets

    From Tunde Liadi,Owerri

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has hinted that there won’t be any yuletide break for the country’s U20 side nicknamed the Falconets ahead of their third round FIFA U20 World Cup qualifying match against South Africa in January next year.

    The Falconets thrashed Tunisians U20 side 4-0 in the second leg of their second round tie played in Tunis on Sunday to get the berth to the third round 8-0 on aggregate. They had earlier beaten Sierra Leone 16-0 on aggregate in the first round.

    With barely a fortnight to the first leg of the third round encounter against South Africa billed for January 11th, 2014 at the Abuja National Stadium, the NFF has stated that the Falconets need total concentration ahead of the clash.

    The South Africans whitewashed Tanzania 9-1 on aggregate also to get to this stage after they had also eliminated Botswana 7-2 on aggregate in the first round.

    The NFF’s Director of Competitions, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi told SportingLife that the players will resume preparations immediately the team arrives from Tunisia because of the nearness of the first leg of the third round fixture where the Falconets need to win well at home before negotiating the second leg tie in Johannesburg.

    Nigeria’s U20 side have played in all the editions of the U-20 Women’s World Cup since inception in 2002 with their best performance being in 2010 in Germany when they got to the final before losing 2-0 to the hosts in Dresden. They were led to that competition by current Pelican Stars’ gaffer, Adet Egan.

    The Falconets were also semi-finalists last year in Japan. They lost the third place match to the hosts on that occasion too.

    Equatorial Guinea and Ghana will battle for the second African slot to the U20 World Cup in the third round after they eliminated their second round opponents with relatively ease over the weekend.

    Ghana never kicked any ball because their foes Uganda withdrew and were subsequently walked over while equatorial Guinea who have two African Women’s Championship(AWC) titles already at the senior level thrashed Zambia 6-0 on aggregate on set up the clash with their West Africans.

    The first and the second leg take place in the weekend of January 10th-12th and 24th-26th, 2014 respectively.

    Nigeria’s Falconets and the Black Princesses of Ghana represented Africa in Japan in 2012.