The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NSSF

  • NSSF tasks parents over school sport

    NSSF tasks parents over school sport

    The Nigeria School Sport Federation (NSSF) encourages parents and guardians to support their children in embracing sports.

    Speaking at the 24th Nestle Milo Secondary School Basketball Championships in Lagos, NSSF President Olabisi Joseph emphasized that engaging in sports helps develop a child’s psychomotor skills and contributes to a holistic education.

    Joseph highlighted the importance of not solely focusing on academic performance but also integrating sports into a child’s development.

    She praised Nestle Nigeria Plc commitment to the annual championships, which have consistently produced talented athletes for the country.

    Read Also: Super Eagles made Nigerians proud in Cote d’Ivoire. He said: “As a professional body

    The Milo School Basketball Championship, now in its 26th year, has become a beacon of excellence, nurturing grassroots basketball talent and providing valuable life skills to young Nigerian students.

    This year’s championship, which began with state preliminaries in March, involved over 10,000 schools.

    The NSSF aims to continue its innovative approach by organizing an all-round national final event that encompasses sports, education, culture, and inclusion.

    Age-appropriate events, screening, biometrics, and data capturing ensure that eligible school-aged children compete in the finals.

  • NSSF returning president Joseph vows to take body to greater heights

    NSSF returning president Joseph vows to take body to greater heights

    Returning president of Nigeria School Sport Federation (NSSF) Olabisi Joseph has pledged to take the federation to greater heights after she was elected for a second term in office.

    Joseph, who is the first female President of NSSF was unanimously re-elected by the delegates from 27 states and FCT Abuja at the 2024 Annual General Assembly of the federation held on Tuesday, January 30 at the Gymnasium Complex of the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Lagos.

    In her acceptance speech, Joseph thanked the delegates for their trust and confidence in her executive while pledging to work harder to make NSSF a rallying point for talent discovery in sports.

    Read Also: NSSF launches annual youth empowerment

    “With your votes, you have all encouraged me. Thank you for having faith in me and returning me to this office. I guarantee you that we will continue from where we are now and hopefully, we will build a federation that we will all be proud of even after leaving office.

    “Your vote demonstrates that you trust me to be your voice and I cannot thank you enough for your trust. I pledge to take us to greater heights and to complete all of my goals. You have shown that you believe in my leadership by returning me for another term in office. I hope I can live up to your expectations and take our federation to a greater height,” she added.

    Other executives elected at the assembly include Dickson Monday Tinism (VP 1); Emmanuel Ebong (VP 2); Ifeoma Onuchukwu (VP 3); Aminu Fada (VP 4); Dr Oba Funsho Usman (Secretary General); Adagbo Godwin Abari (Treasurer); Fawolu Robertson Olajide (Financial Secretary); Aka Ikechukwu (Assistant Secretary); Hassan Dauda (Auditor 1), David Bot Danbuyi (Auditor 2) and Sagiru Sani Dandano (PRO).

  • NSSF launches annual youth empowerment

    NSSF launches annual youth empowerment

    The Nigeria Solidarity Support Fund (NSSF) is set to launch her inaugural WeNaija Youth Fest event to close out its 2023 WeNaija campaign.

    General Manager, Nigeria Solidarity Support Fund (NSSF), Dr Fejiro Chinye-Nwoko, stated that the annual WeNaija campaigns have been dedicated to reskilling and retooling creative Nigerian youth through innovative avenues like photography, literature, and video to mobilize, empower, and upskill Nigeria’s vibrant, tech-savvy, and creative youth.

    According to her, the 2023 WeNaija campaign united young people aged 18 to 35 in a national video content creation contest themed ‘WeNaija Awareness to Action’ which launched on October 11th, 2023.

    “The campaign was aimed at raising awareness about HPV and the HPV vaccine for girls aged nine to14 through video content. The videos created will be used as advocacy tools to encourage youth participation in advocating for essential healthcare improvements,” Chinye-Nwoko said.

    She noted that the WeNaija Youth Fest is the grand finale of the ‘Awareness to Action’ campaign.

    She explained that the festival will allow participants to showcase their impactful videos with the hope of being recognized and celebrated as the top five finalists to win amazing prizes worth up to N5 million and internship opportunities.

    Read Also: COP28: NNPCL seals LNG, CNG deals for domestic, international market

    She added that the event will also feature capacity-building sessions for young advocates in health, storytelling and video content creation, led by some of esteemed WeNaija video contest judges and influencers. “Exciting opportunities to win prizes also await participants in the ‘Spontaneous’ competition.

    The WeNaija Youth Fest event will provide a meaningful avenue for growth, empowerment, and economic upliftment for all participants involved. It is an opportunity to empower youths, captivate and equip young minds with essential advocacy skills, particularly in the realm of health,” Chinye-Nwoko said.

     The NSSF was born from a partnership during the COVID-19 era between Global Citizen (GC) and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

    The fund promotes its mission of transforming health outcomes in Nigeria by supporting impactful initiatives that provide critical intervention in the areas that improve leadership and governance of routine immunization (RI) programmes.

  • NSSF president hails victorious AYG athletes

    NSSF president hails victorious AYG athletes

    President, Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF), Ibrahim Mohammed has hailed the performance of Team Nigeria to the recently concluded African Youth Games (AYG) in Gabrone, Botswana where they came third overall. The team which arrived in Nigeria Sunday evening, won 19 gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze medals trailing Egypt and South Africa in the 2nd edition of the games.

    Mohammed said the young athletes have made Nigeria proud testifying that with more government support to the age-grade category the nation will in no distant time rule the world in sports.

    “I congratulate the team. They have made Nigeria proud and this is all NSSF have been fighting for; the development of the age-grade sports sector. Both the boys and girls did very well and this shows that with more commitment on age-grade/youth sports there is hope in the future. Remember the Olympics 2012 flop, with continuous development of age-grade sports an opportunity has been presented to nurture future Olympics stars,” he said.

    He called on the sports miister, Tammy Danagogo to intensify efforts at further enhancing and developing the sector by being steadfast in the development of the-grade sector. “I am happy the minister believes in the age-grade sector and youth sports but I want to urge him to be steadfast in that regard because that is the future of our sports. With the development of youth sports there is hope for Nigeria in sports. This crop of athletes should be further nurtured,” he concluded.

     

  • NSSF president urges FG, states to support its grassroots activities

    NSSF president urges FG, states to support its grassroots activities

    Ibrahim Mohammed, President, Nigeria Schools Sports Federation (NSSF), yesterday urged the support of both the Federal and State Ministries of Sports and Education to enhance its grassroots sports initiatives.

    Mohammed told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone in Lagos that the body lacked the means to single-handedly pursue its programmes.

    “We need help from the sports and education ministries because they have critical roles to play in our activities as we need funds to execute our programmes. I have always talked about the need for synergy between the two ministries. There is a need for them to help to propagate policies that will improve school sports at at all levels,’’ Mohammed said.

    The NSSF president, however, applauded the support of the body’s regular partners and appealed for more sponsorship for its activities.

    “Nestle Plc and Shell Petroleum Development Company have been so supportive of our vision and mission. Take for instance in basketball and football, Nestle has been there for us and we need more of such sponsors to partner with us,’’ he said.

    Mohammed also urged parents and guardians to encourage their children and wards to take their vocations in sports more seriously to enhance grassroots sports development.

    “Parents and guardians should be interested in their children’s extra-curricular activities and it is always better to discover these children at a young age for a regulated development. To ensure that their interest in sports is further encouraged, we need more sponsors to come and partner with us to provide more avenues to showcase their God-given talents,’’ he added.

  • NSSF officials commend Kwara Goverment

    NSSF officials commend Kwara Goverment

    Officials of the National School Sport Federation (NSSF) have praised the Kwara State Government for hosting the sixth National School Sports Festival successfully.

    NSSF President Ibrahim Muhammed told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone on Wednesday that the government did a good job to ensure that talents were discovered at the event.

    He thanked Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed for making sure that the facilities used were standard and the event devoid of any sordid incident, even when the notice to host was short.

    Muhammed also praised the Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, for his passion for the development of the youths and support for the successful hosting of the festival.

    “The participants are happy with the Kwara State government because they enjoyed themselves. Events were well competed for and in a free and fair manner,” he said.

    The NSSF president also said that the media, security agencies in the state and government officials contributed to the success of the fiesta.

    The Secretary of the federation, Mrs Olabisi Joseph, in her reaction, said the government made their dreams realisable, noting that the state government had expressed its readiness to host the event anytime it was called upon.

    “If not for the Kwara State government, we wouldn’t have discovered the five-year-old and the youngest medallist at the Games, so far. I must thank the government for giving Nigerian children a chance to show their talents,’’ Joseph said.

    She added that the federation would strive to ensure that the event would be held annually, to make for adequate sports development at the grassroots.

    Also reacting, the Kwara Director of Sports, Tunde Kazeem, told NAN that the support given by the government resulted in the huge turnout of states for the event.

    Kazeem, who also served as Chairman of the festival’s Technical Committee, praised the athletes who represented Kwara for not trying to win at all costs, as hosts. He said the state government’s investment in the U-12 and U-15 football teams was not in vain, as they won gold medals and urged the teams to keep the flag flying.

    NAN reports that the Kwara U-12 team will represent Nigeria at the Nestle Africa U-13 Championship in Kenya next year.

    Kwara finished fifth on the medals table with 16 gold, 21 silver and 30 bronze medals at the 10-day Games that ended on November 30 at the Kwara Stadium, Ilorin.

  • NSSF President: We’ll discover Olympic stars

    NSSF President: We’ll discover Olympic stars

    The President of the National School Sports Federation (NSSF), Mallam Ibrahim Mohammad has declared that the National School Sports Festival (NSSF) holding in Ilorin, Kwara State will produce future Olympic stars.

    Delivering his welcome speech at the opening ceremony of the one-week competition on Saturday, Mohammad said the history of school sports is repleted with exploits of stars discovered from schools sports, who became international stars.

    He stated further that the golden era of Nigeria sports was made possible with organised school sports which remains the nursery for the discovery and nurturing of budding talents.

    “There’s no doubt that the 10 days of this kiddies Olympics will afford the participants the opportunity to showcase their talents and also enjoy the hospitality of Kwara State. I wish to praise the commitment and dedication of the people and government of Kwara State, especially Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, who has been showing unfailing support,” he said.

    Mohammad said with 17 scoring and six demonstration sports in attendance in the 23 sports competition, new talents will be discovered for the future.

    “We are confident that Olympic stars will be discovered for the future. When athletes are discovered at a tender age, there’s a tendency for then to grow in the said sports. This is what developed countries do, they discover, groom and develop athletes,” he said.

    He said because physical development is part of education, it engenders determination, discipline and respect in the children.

    Mohammad, however, called on the Ministry of Education and Sports to collaborate and ensure that the average Nigerian child is properly developed to be able leaders of tomorrow.

  • NSSF urges sports minister to fulfill promise

    The Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF), on Thursday urged the Minister of Sports, Malam Bolaji Abudulahi, not to renege on his promise to support the programmes of the federation.

    NSSF President, Ibrahim Mohammed, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that the federation would hold its All Nigeria Schools Sports Festival in December, at a yet- to-be-determined venue.
    He said that the choice of Akwa Ibom, originally scheduled to host the two-week fiesta, had to be dropped because of inadequate facilities.
    “We are waiting on the minister’s promise; we have not been able to make contact with other states too, on the issue of hosting, apart from Oyo and Akwa Ibom.
    “Initially, Akwa Ibom thought it would be able to host, but from all indications, that would not be possible, as they have stepped back.
    “The minister promised the NSSF that if we are unable to find a state that will host the event, he would come to our rescue.
    “So, we are waiting for the minister to fulfill his promise,’’ Mohammed said.
    He commended the proposed U-17 National Youth Games, saying that it should not be a one-off festival.
    “It is commendable. I pray the festival will be sustained for the development of sports in the country.
    “It should be sustained if we are honestly serious about the development of sports,’’ the school’s sports chief said.
    He added that sports would continue to be one of the most important avenues for restive youths to channel their energies into. “One thing our leaders fail to realise is that we need restive youths to channel their anger towards something that can become positive, even in the long run,” the president said.

  • NSSF: Events finally kick off

    The fifth edition of the Nigeria National School Sports Festival, (NSSF) has finally kicked off after what seemed like an endless three days of intensive screening of the athletes.

    Judo and Handball kicked off at the University of Port Harcourt venue of events with several states participating in various categories of the preliminary while indoor games were also said to have started at the Alfred Spiff Diete sports complex.

    At the time of this report, results had not been recorded for any of the events.

    Meanwhile, screening was still on-going at the University of Port Harcourt football pitch for about three games at the time of this report, some events were also weighing to get the appropriate weight categories while a majority of the games had concluded and were good to go.

    The organisers of the games have given firm assurances that the entire events are starting today at the various venues.

    The venues chosen for the events remain Spiff-Diete sports complex, popularly called Civic Centre, University of Port Harcourt, Liberation Stadium and Adokiye Amiesimaka sports complex.