Other Sports
Nigeria Taekwondo Federation Board Inaugurated Amidst Foul Play Cry
Amidst allegations of inconclusive election into the board of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF), a new board of the body was on Wednesday inaugurated by the Nigerian sports minister, Solomon Dalung.
The board is headed by Margaret Binga whose route to the board was through Nigeria Women in Sports (NAWIS).
The minister charged the board to revive its federation’s grassroots development initiative and frowned at the use of recycled athletes in almost all the federations. He urged them to develop new ideas for getting new talents.
“I want to be invited to see young athletes of ten years old being trained. I’m tired of seeing recycled athletes who have been on stage for close to two decades.
“I will adjudge your performance on how committed you are to grassroots sports development because I am convinced that if you train young people today, our potential in future and our dominance in the next 10 to 20 years is guaranteed.
“We have depleted completely our professional athletes profile and we are just recycling them”, remarked the sports minister.
Dalung also urged the new leadership to resist presiding over the federation as sole administrator.
“Let me charge you that the era of sole administration is gone for good. Every Federation must hold regular meetings as provided for, quarterly. Inability to hold your quarterly meetings is inviting the board to sit and impeach you.
“It is a collective responsibility and the board is responsible to Nigerians.”
He also said that he’ll be strict with the prudent management of funds from donor agencies, sponsors and partners and directed that a constitution of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation be developed within three months.
“Call a congress, adopt the constitution and deposit a copy with the Nigeria Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
“We shall not hold elections again with guidelines in future. Without a valid constitution, it means the Federation will be managed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and you cannot complain of interference by the Ministry.”
He recalled that the crisis in taekwondo was one of the first that welcomed him in office as a minister.
“I did everything possible to bring about reconciliation but the differences were sharp and contrasting.
“The crisis affected the performance of federation at the 2016 Olympics therefore, unity is very important in everything you do.
For those members who have held responsibility in the federation and are aggrieved, you must recognize their contributions to developing the federation.
“You must shield your swords of differences and give a leadership guide to support the development of Taekwondo in Nigeria. Taekwondo is one of the medals -fetching sports in Nigeria if there is unity of purpose among the members of the federation.”
In her acceptance speech, the newly inaugurated President, Margaret Binga, thanked the minister on behalf of the board and pledged total commitment to the uplift of Taekwondo in the country.
“I want to tell the minister that the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation board will not disappoint Nigerians.
“We thank you sincerely for inaugurating us today and we’ll kick start our programs immediately. We promise that we’ll go back to the grassroots, discover athletes and harness them.
“We’ll seat and chart a way forward and we promise that with God on our side, come Tokyo 2020 and the next all Africa games, we will be on the podium.”
Election into the board of the NTF had been crisis-ridden, leading to it not been conclusive at the general election into all the boards on June 13.
George Ashiru who contested for the post of the president was disqualified. According to the report of the election petition committee, he petitioned along with 20 state delegates.
Ashiru was nominated as ex-officio member. At the presidential Election, he was told that his name was not on the list by The Chairman of the electoral committee.
But the Appeal Committee noted that Ashiru’s name was wrongly substituted and found merit in his appeal and consequently nullified the presidential election and directed that fresh election be held and reinstate Ashiru as the Ex-officio/philanthropist/sponsor on the Board of the NTF.
The same situation also affected another petitioner, Temitayo Popoola who was on South West platform.
It was alleged that the master list was not used in the conduct of the election. Consequently, the Appeal Committee noted that the petitioners’ name was wrongly substituted, found merit in the appeal and consequently nullified the South West zonal election and ordered a fresh one.
According to a source in the board who did not attend the inauguration of the board, the rerun election never took place.
“When we were called to reassemble on July 21, we were kept waiting and it was obvious no election was going to hold. In frustration, some of the delegates left.
“It was then we were told that if we could form a quorum, which is 30, we should go ahead with the election. We could only raise 26 out of the expected 30. So we were told to disperse to be called up two weeks later.
That never happened. I am therefore shocked to learn that we were being secretly called to come for an inauguration after an inconclusive election”, remarked the board member,
Pastor Enoch A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has unveiled a full-size stadium and an Olympic-size 50-metre swimming pool at the Peaceville International Academy, located within the Redemption City of God, Ogun State.
The esteemed cleric was accompanied by his wife, Pastor Folu Adeboye, along with top church leaders including Pastor Joseph Obayemi; RCCG National Overseer, Pastor Sunday Akande, and the management of Peaceville International Academy led by Head of School Dolapo Fatoki.
The event was graced by several board members of the school, including Leke Adeoye, Olugbenga Omojola, Ayoola Jolayemi, Noah Osato, and Mrs Busola Ogunsiji.
Reflecting on his past, Pastor Adeboye lamented the lack of such facilities during his university days and the general scarcity of quality sports amenities across the country.
“This kind of well-grassed stadium and serene environment were not available in universities during our time. Remarkably, God has made this possible in a secondary school, showing that He is on our side,” he remarked.
He offered prayers for those who contributed to the realization of these facilities and expressed his vision for the school to become a global brand.
In her welcome address, Pastor Mrs. Adeboye, the founder of the college, described the institution as a legacy made possible by God’s support.
She thanked her husband for his unwavering support in making the school a reality and emphasized the importance of the sports facilities in moulding Godly champions.
The unveiling ceremony also featured a novelty match to celebrate Pastor Adeboye’s 83rd birthday, with him performing the ceremonial kick-off for the match between Redemption City FC and Region 1 FC. The home team triumphed with a 4-0 victory.
Head of School Dolapo Fatoki highlighted that the facilities would be judiciously used to enhance the physical well-being of students and position the school as a hub for sports development in Ogun State and Nigeria.
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Championship promotion chasers Burnley clocked up 1,000 minutes without conceding a league goal as they drew 0-0 at Preston North End on Saturday to stay third in the table.
It was Burnley’s 24th Championship clean sheet of the season and their 11th in a row — a new English second-tier record.
In 33 Championship games their miserly defence has been breached only nine times and no opposition player has scored against them in the league since Dec. 21.
Burnley keeper James Trafford has faced only 21 shots on target in achieving his 11 successive clean sheets — including two penalties which he saved against Sunderland.
Scott Parker’s side need just one more clean sheet to match the Championship record of Queen’s Park Rangers in 2010-11.
“It’s something we pride ourselves on. We’re proud of being hard to beat and if you can’t win games, don’t lose them,” Burnley midfielder Josh Cullen told the club’s website.
“We come away with a point thanks to that defensive record and being solid again here at a tough place.”
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A UK-based sports recycling charity, Lord’s Taverners has donated sports kits and equipment worth over 30 million naira to the CSED (Community Sport and Educational Development) Initiative.
The donated kits and equipment weighed 998 kilograms. It is not the first time such a donation was made.
It would be recalled that since 2019, this is the fifth batch of sports kit donations that Lord’s Taverners have donated to CSED Initiative.
In total, CSED Initiative has received sports kits weighing over three thousand kilogrammes from Lord’s Taverners.
Most of this batch of donated sports kit items are for cricket, netball, badminton, football, casual sportswear and tracksuits.
Some of the prominent institutions that have benefitted from the kits that were donated by Lord’s Taverners in the past are Edo State Cricket Association, the cricket team of ABU Zaria, the cricket team of IDPs Uhogua, Cameroonian refugees in Ogoja (Cross River State).
Furthermore, some selected schools in Delta, Edo, Akwa Ibom and Taraba States have benefitted from the free cricket kits that were donated by Lord’s Taverners to CSED Initiative.
In a recent email correspondence between a Trustee of CSED Initiative, a Project Manager of Lord’s Taverners, a representative of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) acknowledged the role the kits that Lord’s Taverners donated to CSED Initiative played in the development of some of the cricketers who recently played in the Nigerian female cricket team at the recently completed T20, U-19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia.
Nine out of these fifteen cricketers are players from Edo State whose cricket Association received 250 kilogrammes of donated cricket kits from CSED Initiative in April 2019.
Furthermore, CSED has also donated cricket items to a cricket project that has supported the development of the two cricketers from Akwa Ibom State who featured for Nigeria in the Malaysian tournament.
During an interview with sports reporters, a representative of CSED Initiative stated that the new batch of donated equipment from Lord’s Taverners will enable them to empower three thousand children and youths in respect of supporting some of their basic sports kit needs. The donated kits will enable CSED Initiative to train three hundred P.E. Teachers in 2025. “So, it is going to be a win-win situation for grassroots sports.”
However, CSED Initiative have been informed that the Lord’s Taverners sports kits recycling project is going to close in March 2025, as a result of financial constraint. The National Coordinator of CSED Initiative stated that this news was a huge shock to them, and the sports recycling community all over the world.
Lord’s Taverners has a global base of sports for change NGOs that they have supported in the past few decades. Though Lord’s Taverners was mainly set up as a cricket charity, it has over the years supported other sports at the grassroots level.
“We in CSED Initiative will forever remain grateful for the support we have received from Lord’s Taverners. Especially in respect of the sport of netball.
They have supported us with balls, bibs, netball jerseys, T-shirts and skirts.
These donated netball kits gave us the courage to strive to revive the game of netball in Nigeria through our ongoing: “Project 2027” drive where we have trained and equipped more than three hundred and seventy P.E. Teachers and community leaders.”
While receiving the donated items in their Niger Delta base, the National Coordinator of CSED Initiative assured Dave Pemberton (Project Manager of Lord’s Taverners) that the sports kits will be distributed for free to selected schools and vulnerable community groups (IDPs and asylum seekers/refugees) they currently work with, as well as new sets of schools and communities who will be expected to put the donated kit into good use.
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