By Tony Ubani, Maputo
Sports Minister, Yussuf Suleiman has given his consent to hire ex-international, Innocent Egbunike on a long term contract that would see him revive and rekindle Nigeria’s athletic prowess of old.
Egbunike was brought to Maputo, Mozambique to assess the performance of athletics and do an appraisal to the National Sports Commission which in turn would assess him through his works to see if he merits being contracted to be part of the technical heads to tinker athletics for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Athletics redeemed Nigeria and accounted for 10 gold medals that lifted Team Nigeria from its 8th position in the medals table. But the times returned by the athletes were no where near what those who would run at the Olympics return.
The great Egbunike who excited souls with his run alongside Chidi Imoh, Sunday Uti, Henry Amike, Olapade Adenikan, Moses Ugbusien, Mary Onyali, Tina Iheagwam, Falilat Ogunkoya, Yussuf Ali, Henry Amike among others in the days that athletics almost competed with football in terms of popularity is expected to turn in his report in Abuja.
Chef de mission to the 10th All Africa Games held in Maputo, Yakmut Alhassan said that they held useful meetings with Egbunike and expect him to submit his appraisal of the Games to them.
“The Minister, DG and myself held meetings with Egbunike. I must inform you that the Minister is of the opinion that he should be engaged in a long time contract that will give him chance to revive the sport and bring back the lost glory days of athletics”, Yakmut said.
“We want the best for the country and that is why we brought him. We expect him to submit his appraisal for the Games and then other things will follow”, he noted.
Sports Minister, Yussuf Suleiman has given his consent to hire ex-international, Innocent Egbunike on a long term contract that would see him revive and rekindle Nigeria’s athletic prowess of old.
Egbunike was brought to Maputo, Mozambique to assess the performance of athletics and do an appraisal to the National Sports Commission which in turn would assess him through his works to see if he merits being contracted to be part of the technical heads to tinker athletics for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Athletics redeemed Nigeria and accounted for 10 gold medals that lifted Team Nigeria from its 8th position in the medals table. But the times returned by the athletes were no where near what those who would run at the Olympics return.
The great Egbunike who excited souls with his run alongside Chidi Imoh, Sunday Uti, Henry Amike, Olapade Adenikan, Moses Ugbusien, Mary Onyali, Tina Iheagwam, Falilat Ogunkoya, Yussuf Ali, Henry Amike among others in the days that athletics almost competed with football in terms of popularity is expected to turn in his report in Abuja.
Chef de mission to the 10th All Africa Games held in Maputo, Yakmut Alhassan said that they held useful meetings with Egbunike and expect him to submit his appraisal of the Games to them.
“The Minister, DG and myself held meetings with Egbunike. I must inform you that the Minister is of the opinion that he should be engaged in a long time contract that will give him chance to revive the sport and bring back the lost glory days of athletics”, Yakmut said.
“We want the best for the country and that is why we brought him. We expect him to submit his appraisal for the Games and then other things will follow”, he noted.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/london-2012-olympics-minister-wants-egbunike-on-a-long-term-contract/
NSC, you got him, now go ahead and frustrate him out!
ReplyDeleteWe should have hired Innocent 3yrs ago, if we are serious about doing well in London olympics. just a short time left b/4 the games starts, the federation should give him 5yrs contract to develop the Athlets for the future. He was was an insperational runner in his hey days and am sure he will do well if given the room to do his job.
ReplyDeletewelcome back to the starting point the great Inno. thank you mr. minister. thank God we are longer looking for tired hands [those not qualified to train local athletes/footballers] in the western countries to train our men and women. good that we are now looking inward for coaches and mentors. that will in a way motivate our aspiring sports men and women. i do hope this is indeed the end to our fire brigade approach. once more, thank you mr. minister for sports.
ReplyDeleteEgbunike cant perform miracles if there is dearth of talent in the country. In a country of 150 million, there are no long distance runners to speak of. There are not enough athletic meets to discover talent, grassroots athletics are non existent. Until govts spend more money on sports infrastructure, nigeria will always lag behind other countries. Pouring money into football does not help other sports.
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