A glorious return of the Nigerian football league to the good old days has been assured by Minister of Sports and Youth Development Sunday Dare.
According to him, plans were under way to achieve this and ultimately produce players that would form the nucleus of the nation’s Super Eagles.
The minister stated this Tuesday in Abuja at the PMB Scorecard(2015-2023) platform, an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture where ministers list their achievements.
He said the Gbenga Elegbeleye-led Interim Management Committee (IMC) set up by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) was working out modalities to return the nation’s football league to the good old days.
Dare recalled with nostalgia how the likes of Segun Odegbami from the then IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan, Christian Chukwu of Rangers International of Enugu and others formed the nucleus of the Green Eagles, as the national team was then called.
He said: “We must return to the DNA of our football, the domestic league. The process is ongoing through the NFF and the IMC. The process may be slow but surely it will work out. IMC is working to reengineer and rebuild the domestic league.
“The Super Eagles must return to the glorious days when it was dominated by local league players like Segun Odegbami from IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan and Christian Chukwu from Rangers International of Enugu. The Super Eagles will be rebuilt with players with young legs and youthful minds with the commitment to serve.”
The minister further listed his ministry’s achievements to include ‘Adopt-an-Athlete, Adopt-a-Pitch, Adopt-a-Sport, Talent Hunt Program, Welfare Funds and the Covid-19 Relief Funds’ which, according to him, had changed the face of sports in Nigeria.
Among other achievements, Dare said 45 foreign and home-based athletes had benefited from the ‘Adopt-an-Athlete’ initiative and their welfare properly taken care of with a 300 per cent increase in bonuses for the athletes with gold medalists collecting as much as $15,000, silver medalists $10,000 and $5,000 for bronze medalists.
The minister who said sports had become business, further stated the initiative led to the revival and refurbishment of the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja bankrolled by business giant, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna being financed by the Kaduna State Government.
Others according to him , were National Stadium Surulere, Lagos bankrolled by Sir Kessington Adebutu, Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Ibadan financed to the tune of N150 million by the federal government and similar others like the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu and the Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi.
Furthermore, he said some 16 Nigerian athletes, including Tobi Amusan and Ese Brume, also benefited from the NOC/IOC Athletes Scholarship, just as another batch of 220 athletes also benefitted from the N11 million relief fund during the COVID-19 lockdown.
He also listed some forms of support the federal government was rendering families of some sporting heroes and heroines.
They include; families of late Rashidi Yekini, Samuel Okwaraji, Ali Jeje and Sunday Bada, who are being paid monthly stipends under the Athlete Welfare Scheme.
Also, the hospital bills of some active and retired athletes like Kadiri Ikhana (back surgery), Sunday Eboigbe (medical support), Jerry Okorodudu (infection), Nkem Akaranye (knee surgery) and Funke Oshonaike (dental surgery) were also settled by the ministry.
