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Dikko Hosts Olympians, Assures On Retired Athletes Welfare

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That the labours of the nation’s past heroes will not be in vain, the National Sports Commission (NSC) will prioritize the welfare of retired athletes and olympians who had excelled in the national colours. NSC Chairman Mallam Shehu Dikko gave this assurance while hosting the Nigeria Olympians Association (NOA) led by its President Olumide Oyedeji.

In Dikko’s opinion, one way to encourage the current athletes is by ensuring that the retired ones are not disregarded.

His words, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not toying with the welfare of our athletes generally, but particularly our ex-internationals. It is his mandate and we have keyed into it. There is a budget line for the welfare of retired athletes. It may not be much but that’s a good starting point. It means that every year, something will be mapped out for the upkeep of our retired athletes. That money will be judiciously used. But we have to be specific. Not just any retired athlete, we are referring to athletes who wore these green and white colours and we can vouch for them. We want you to feel that Nigeria cares for you.”

There is also good news for athletes with unfulfilled past promises from the government.

“There is also a budget line to fulfill past promises government made to athletes. We know that there had been situations in the past when athletes excelled, they were made financial promises and even some have passed on without those promises being fulfilled. We have a catalogue of those promises and Mr. President has graciously approved a budget line for that purpose. With this development, we will be redeeming those promises gradually. Every year there should be a block funding to sort that out.”

The association’s request for an ‘entourage commission’ which would see the olympians serve as mentors to athletes at major sporting events got a glowing endorsement from the NSC helmsman.

He said, “The issue of entourage commission is one that I am committed to. In fact, we will push to make it a bill so that it becomes a law to have these retired athletes who have seen it all accompany our athletes to Games. There is a huge psychological boost the presence of these great olympians will have on the athletes having them side by side at the Games.”

Dikko eulogized the olympians for their past exploits that brought honour to the nation and promised to engage them more in the Commission’s activities.

“The major reason why the President set up the Commission is for the professionalization of the sector. Who are the core professionals? It is people like you. We will look at the involvement of the olympians in our programs. If you have the right people on the table, you get quality representation”, he added.

He drummed up the Commission’s aggressive grassroots sports development drive in a bid to strengthen the conveyor belt for talents and replace the retired athletes.

“We are doing things differently now. We have set up the three Rs, reset, refocus and relaunch. We are moving our sports from the emphasis on competitions which is consumption to development which is production. This entails that we have to be deliberate in our grassroots development of sports, the schools sports, NUGA, NIPOGA, NACEGA Games. We have struggled to replace most of you retired athletes over the years because of this neglect for the grassroots. We are changing all that now”, he said.

He promised equal attention to all sports.

“We are not a football Commission. We are here for all sports. In this this commission we are working to advance all sports and even in the last week we have held meetings with baseball, motorsports, hockey, volleyball, taekwondo, armwrestling, polo all manner of sports you can think of. We are doing sports development and sports economy here and every sport has the potentials to be a huge revenue generator for the country. We want the Federations to be serious and show proof of development of the sport with domestic tournaments. We fully keyed into what the Cricket U-19 team is doing in Malaysia because even before that tournament you could see the visible efforts of the Federation to unearth and develop talents”, he concluded.

Dikko pledged his support for the upcoming Olympians reunion tagged “the labour of our heroes past.”

Highpoint of the meeting was the induction of the NSC Chairman as an olympian, an act which according to the association, accords him the full privileges and rights of an olympian.

The NOA delegation comprised of Olumide Oyedeji (President), Lawrence Iquaibom (1st Vice-president), Chief Falilat Ogunkoya-Osheku, Emmanuel Babayaro (Secretary), Hameed Adio, Emmanuel Oshoma and Olusegun Ajose. Also present at the event was SSA to the President on Grassroots Sports Development Adeyinka Adeboye ‘Zulu’.

Related Topics:Nigeria Olympians Association NSC

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Newstap/SWAN Five Star Sports Award Excites Ebi Egbe

Chief Executive Officer of Monimichelle Sports Facilities Construction Ltd, Ebi Egbe says he’s highly honoured to be nominated as one of the receipients of the forthcoming maiden Newstap SWAN Five Star Sports Award

He stated this when he received his letter of nomination from the Editor of Newstap Communications and South West Secretary General of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria.

According to him, the recognition is an indication that Nigerians value what his company is doing noting that they’ll never compromise standards but will be moving with technological innovations.

“It’s always nice to be recognized. At Monimichelle Limited, we’ve been doing our best to make sure we bring in the best for sporting infrastructure not just in Nigeria, but the entire African continent. So I’m excited to be receiving this award from Newstap Communications and SWAN

” I also want to say that what this award shows is that the world is following our good track record. And this have really propelled us to continue doing what we’re doing. So I want to appreciate the organisers of this award for finding me worthy to be honoured.
He also assured Nigerians that his company will continue to provide the best services which is in tune with the latest technology.

“At Monimichelle, we don’t like to sit at the back seat. Even though we are an African company servicing African market, we’re following technology as it’s revolving in the world because technology changes everyday in the sports industry and we always make sure we give our clients the best of services and will continue to do so”, he concluded.

CEO of Monimichelle Group Ebi Egbe (middle) flanked by Editor of Newstap, Ifeanyi Eduzor (right) and Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN official Charles Ogundiya when Egbe received his letter as one of the recipients of the Newstap/ SWAN Five-Star award billed for March 7 in Lagos.

Other reciepients of the Five Star Sports Award includes, the Executive Governor of Benue State, His Excellency, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, GTI Assets Management and Trust Limited, a company that has turned around the nation’s premier league, the NPFL, President of Remo Stars, Kunle Soname and Chairman of Benue State Football Association who is also the only founder of two women clubs in Nigeria – Naija Ratels and Benue Queens, Barrister Paul Edeh.

The event comes up on Friday, March 7, 2025 at the Bamboo Hall of the prestigious Eko Club, off Bode Thomas Street Surulere, Lagos.

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Karim Benzema Hints Return To Real Madrid

Real Madrid legend Karim Benzema has hinted at a desire to return to the club once he has brought down the curtain on an illustrious playing career.

Benzema is second on Madrid’s list of all-time goal-scorers, ahead of icons Raul and Alfredo Di Stefano, having netted 354 times across 14 years. He is also fifth on the club’s all-time appearance list, playing 648 games between 2009 and 2023.

Madrid have welcomed former players back in a variety of off-field roles in the past, with 1980s stars Jorge Valdano and Emilio Butragueno among those to have had prominent executive positions. Raul has been in charge of Real Madrid Castilla since 2019, with Alvaro Arbeloa currently a youth coach. Santiago Solari had spells in charge of various sides up to first-team level, with Zinedine Zidane famously serving as an adviser before two spells as head coach.

Benzema admitted in a Mega interview that he doesn’t know if coaching is the path he wants to take, only that he wants to be “close” to president Florentino Perez.

“The other day, I was with Florentino in Madrid. When he signed me [in 2009], I told my father that as long as he was at Real Madrid, I would be there,” the Frenchman explained.

“He was the first person I called when I decided I was leaving. He didn’t quite understand…I told him that the youngsters, Vinicius and Rodrygo, were ready. When I retire, I want to be close to football. Coach? I don’t know, it seems more complicated than being a player. I want to be close to Florentino.”

Benzema, now 37, is currently in his second season with Saudi Pro League giants Al Ittihad.

“I feel good here,” he said. “My life is like in Madrid. I get up, train at home in the gym and in the afternoon I train with the team. In the evening, I sometimes go out to dinner or to the beach. Here you can’t walk down the street either, people are crazy about football.”

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Fulham Condemn Manchester United Fans Racist Abuse on Calvin Bassey

Fulham have condemned the “abhorrent” racist and homophobic online abuse directed at Nigerian defender Calvin Bassey following Sunday’s FA Cup penalty shootout win at Manchester United.

Nigeria defender Bassey, who scored the opening goal at Old Trafford, shared some examples of the unsavoury abuse he had received on social media.

“We strongly condemn this abhorrent behaviour, which has no place in football or society,” Fulham said in a statement.

“Such actions are entirely unacceptable, and we stand in full support of Calvin Bassey, who will continue to receive our full backing.

“We will do everything in our power to work with the relevant authorities in identifying the perpetrators of these vile messages and taking the strongest form of action against them.”

Bassey’s online abuse follows recent cases involving Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure, England defender Kyle Walker, Newcastle United’s Joe Willock and Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw.

In a recent interview with BBC Sport, Samuel Okafor, chief executive of anti-discrimination body Kick It Out (KIO), said the level of abuse in English football had “reached crisis point”.

Bassey’s goal was cancelled out in the second half by Bruno Fernandes, with the game staying level at 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes and extra time.

Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee missed for United in the shootout to send the Cottagers into the quarter-finals, where they will host Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage.

BBC