Monimichelle gives Samson Siasia Stadium facelift, installs LED scoreboard

The high-definition, LED scoreboard - which is situated just in front of the arena - can display live footage from the football field and stands, as well as replays and recorded content.

The approximately 30 feet by 50 feet (1,400 square feet) scoreboard was installed by Monimichelle Sports Facility Constructions Limited.

The new scoreboard features a single-point sound system on top.

It was further scooped that Ebi Egbe, Chief Executive Officer of Monimichelle Sports Facility Constructions Ltd, the firm handling the Stadium, was on ground to ensure the LED equipment was cleared from the Nigerian Customs.

Upon clearance, Monimichelle Ltd embarked on the installation of the scoreboard and have now successfully completed the process by putting it to test ahead of Bayelsa United's continental assignment.

2021 Paralympics Games: NAWIS praise Para Athletes for their outstanding performance in Tokyo

The Association of Nigerian Women in Sports (NAWIS) has celebrated Nigeria Para Para Athletes for their great performance at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics games.

In a press release by the President of NAWIS, Professor Florence Adeyanju who was also a former President of Nigeria Paralympic Committee, lauded the para powerlifting, Para Athletics and Para Table Tennis team for putting smiles on the faces of Nigerians.

Professor Adeyanju stated that the Para Athletes always come to rescue of the country whenever there are shortage of medals at the Olympic proper.

She said

, "The Association is very proud of your performance bringing all the Medals for the country as a follow up to the wonderful performances of Blessing Oduduru and Ese Brume in the main Olympic. 

"Bose Omolayo, Folashade Oluwafemiayo and Latifat Tijani announced to the world that Nigeria is still a power house in the Para Powerlifting event. They always rescue the country whenever all hope are lost after every Olympics".

Professor Adeyanju said NAWIS is proud of their representative, Dr Joy Mayaki who put down her wealth of experience in piloting the affairs of the Federation as Technical Director.

She said, "We are proud of our Representative on the Board of Para Power Lifting Federation Dr Joy Mayaki, what a great way to celebrate your new status".

Nigeria won 3 gold (Bose Omolayo, Folashade Oluwafemiayo and Latifat Tijani), 1 Silver (Loveline Obiji) and 2 bronze medal (Lucy Ejike and Ibrahim Olaitan) all from women.

Meanwhile, Flora Ugunnwa won gold medal in the javelin, Njideaka Iyiazi won bronze medal in the women F57 Shot Put and Lauretta Onye won bronze medal in the shot put

Team Nigeria finished  33rd position on the medals table of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games with a total number of ten medals won which include four gold, 1 silver and five bronze.

Team Nigeria finishes 33rd, 4th in Africa as Tokyo 2020 Paralympics end

Team Nigeria have finished in the 33rd position on the medals table of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and 4th in Africa. 

With a total number of ten medals won which include four gold, a silver and five bronze, Team Nigeria were the 4th best African team behind Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

Represented by only 22 athletes, the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics had one of Team Nigeria's smallest contingents to an international competition and yet her ten medals were just two short of twelve, her record number of medals won at a Paralympic Games.

According to Team Nigeria's Chef de Mission, Mr. Peter Nelson who is also the Director of Planning, Monitoring and Information in the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, the athletes did Nigeria proud, considering their number.

"It is awesome and quite remarkable what we have achieved at this Paralympic Games," Nelson remarked.

"We want to use this medium to appreciate the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, for his enormous support, in making sure that Team Nigeria recorded huge successes. Our dreams and plans came to reality.

"Also, i want to thank the Permanent Secretary, Mr  Nebolisa Anako, for his giant strides too, in making sure that everything went to plan.

"In all, I give glory to God and specially appreciate the athletes, who are the gladiators, not forgetting their coaches and support staff. They all made it possible for the Nigerian anthem to be heard ten good times at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games," the Chef de Mission concluded.

19 medals in Six Weeks - Sunday Dare marches on as Sports Minister

In just over two years in office, Nigeria sports minister Sunday Akin Dare has broken many performance records and is looking more like a man on the pedestrian to more successes. 

History will remember him as one man who defied the odds to excel where his predecessors failed. 

At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Team Nigeria won 3 Silver and 2 Bronze medals to finish 57th on the overall medals table. Between 2008 and 2016, Nigeria has performed woefully at the games but in 2020, Dare led team Nigeria to two Silver and One Bronze medal to help erase the sad memories of the last 13years.

It is very important to state here, that the outbreak of the Corona Virus Pandemic negatively affected team Nigeria's preparation for the games as most of the sporting Federations couldn't travel out in good time, to commence preparation ahead of the games, however, they athletes and the ministry were able to put behind them these setbacks to make history in Tokyo

Dare and his team were able to motivate the team, morally and financially ahead of the games. That perhaps explains the reason why the 'gallant team Nigeria defied all the odds to excel beyond all expectations. 

In less than 6 weeks, the Sports Ministry under the able leadership of Sunday Dare have also gone ahead to silence it's critics with a sterling performance at the Under 20 World championship in Kenya. 

Nigeria’s U-20 track and field athletes have made at the biennial World Athletics U20 championships after finishing third on the overall medals table with an unprecedented haul of four gold and three bronze medals.

The highest Nigeria has achieved on the medals table prior to the just-ended event in Kenya, was her seventh-placed finish at the third edition of the championships in 1990 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where they won two gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

The four gold medals won at the just ended championships in Nairobi, Kenya is the highest Nigeria has won, two more than the country has ever won in any edition of the championships.

Nigeria’s 4x400m mixed relay team began the unprecedented haul with its historic, championships record-setting performance (3:19.70CR) on the opening day of the championships.

To cap it all, Team Nigeria's contingent to the Paralympic games have continued to perform wonders. 

With four gold, one silver and three bronze medals, Nigeria maintains 3rd spot in Africa and 32nd on the overall medals table.

These laudable achievements only goes to show that the dedication and passion the Sports Ministry under the leadership of Sunday Dare is putting into achieving success at all levels of sports is gradually yielding dividends. So far, Nigeria has won over 20 medals from 3 global sporting events and have also succeeded in breaking existing records at all levels. 

It will be recalled that the sports Ministry under Sunday Dare, set up the Athletes Welfare scheme, which is the first of it's kind in the history of sports administration in Nigeria. This programme is designed to help retired and tired Nigeria athletes with financial grants. That singular move, has further made present Nigerian athletes to have confidence in the ministry and has increased their level of dedication and patriotism to National service. 

Beyond that, the ministry also provided scholarship for four young Nigeria athletes to study in the United States of America. 

According to Nigeria sports minister Sunday Dare, the intention is to encourage budding talents to add education to sports. 

It is also important to state here that the minister have always emphasized on equal attention to youth and sports development. Unlike his predecessors who concentrated more on the sports sector, Dare has done excellently well in the youth ministry. Some of his notable achievements include

1. Training over 100,000 youths in diverse digital skills under the IBM, Google and Microsoft programs.  

2. The ministry supported 6,000 youth entrepreneurs and SMES with direct soft loans under the National youth investment fund program. 

3. The ministry also offered work internships to over 5,000 youths, under the WEP initiative

4. The sports Ministry under the leadership of Sunday Dare developed and implemented a Private Public Partnership model for sports, under the 'Adopt an Athlete' initiative that has delivered over 4million dollars or close to 2billion naira to sports and youth development. Under this initiative, the ministry was able to secure direct financial support for about 22 Nigerian athletes to support their training for the Olympics and the Under 20 World championship 

  In the area of infrastructure renovation, the ministry is almost at the final stage of renovation work at the Moshood Abiola international Stadium in Abuja, while work at the National stadium in Lagos is also at a good pace. 

Let's not also forget that it is under the leadership of Sunday Dare, that the Daura stadium in Katsina state got total renovation. 

In just over two years, Sunday Dare has left tongues wagging as Athletes, officials and key stakeholders who once questioned his choice as sports minister when he was first appointed, are now singing his praises to the heavens, hoping that in four years, he would have taken Nigeria sports to that enviable height we all have always dreamt of.

2,000 Nigerian youths graduates from diverse Digital Skills Training

In furtherance of the commitment of the Federal Government to bequeath lifelong skills to the youth to make them self-reliant, about 2,000 youth across the country Friday completed their 7-week digital skills training facilitated by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development  (FMYSD).

Giving the keynote address at the closing ceremony of the training programme tagged Economic Sustainability Plan (FMYSD-ESP) for youth, Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare stated that the programme is an expression of the priority focus of President Muhammadu Buhari on job creation and his resolve to lift 100m Nigerians out of poverty in 10years. 

The FMYSD-ESP programme is another strategy of the Ministry to deliver on Digital Skills Acquisition, Employability, Entrepreneurship and Leadership (DEEL) initiative and it focuses on three major areas of the DEEL Initiative - Digital Skills, Employability, Work Experience and the Green stimulus framework which emphasizes Entrepreneurship and Digital solutions in Agriculture and renewable energy.

Beneficiaries of the ESP selected through a competitive process across the 6 Geo-political zones went through training in digital skills such as graphics and animation, internet of things, robotics, software development, coding and business process outsourcing. 1,600 youth were trained through Digital Youth Nigeria (DY.ng), 280 went through capacity building in renewable energy and smart agriculture while 2,550 have been placed in organizations as paid interns for 3 months under the Work Experience Programme (WEP). 

Dare noted that sustainable economic engagement of youth is one of the major means through which Nigeria can achieve national development goals, restating that the approach of his Ministry has been the inclusion of youth employment as a priority segment of the National Youth Policy.

The Minister emphasized that officials of the Ministry will monitor the progress of graduates periodically to provide guidance and ensure compliance, in line with the objective of the programme. He also charged beneficiaries to take advantage of credit opportunities available to young people by accessing the National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) to strengthen their businesses. 

Also speaking at the event,  the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Nebeolisa Anakin while distributing starter packs and other empowerment tools to participants stated that the Ministry will continue to ensure full implementation of the programmes and projects of the Federal Government in line with the policy thrust of the present Administration.

Revealed: Almeria rejected €25m Euro bid for Sadiq Umar

The Summer transfer window may have closed with much mouth watering moves involving notable world football stars, but there could have been more had the deals sail through.

The window also saw many Nigerian footballers switching clubs and smiling to the bank.

One of the moves that could have involved another Nigeria player was that of the tall lanky striker, Sadiq Umar, who is the talisman of Spanish side, Almeria.

The forward was almost sealing a move to Primera Liga side, Getafe as they push for his signature till the last day of the transfer window, but Almeria rejected the bid.

As ckdmedia.ng is monitoring the unfolding event, it could be recalled that Getafe came calling before the commencement of the season, to sign the Kaduna born striker.

But Almeria insisted that Sadiq could only leave Almeria for the value of money the club thinks he deserves.

La Liga side Getafe reportedly made a last-ditch attempt to sign Nigerian forward Umar Sadiq from Almeria on the last day of the summer transfer window.

According to reliable Spanish publications La Voz, the Deep Blue Ones offered their Segunda division counterparts a player-plus-cash offer for the former Partizan Belgrade striker. 

Getafe were among the first clubs to make a bid for Sadiq this summer, offering €16 million (7.8 million naira) back in July, which was promptly rejected by La Union.

The Rojiblancos valued the 24-year-old who scored 22 goals in all competitions in his debut season in Spain at around €30 million. That is half of the €60 million release clause in Sadiq’s contract with the Spanish club.

But Getafe waited until the final hours of transfer deadline day to present an improved bid of €18 million in cash plus an unnamed player and other add-ons that could have pushed up the transfer fee to €25 million. 

Still, Almeria were not impressed and refused to approve the deal, deciding instead to retain the services of the former AS Roma forward.

Despite his well-known dreams of playing in the Spanish La Liga, Sadiq has largely been unaffected by the rumours linking him to move away from Estadio de Los Juegos Mediterráneos. The ex-Rangers loanee already has a goal and an assist in three league matches for Almeria this term.

Nigerian government raises investment in youth to boost economy

The Federal Government has reassured that it will continue to harness youth potentials in the country with a view to enhancing sustainable economic growth and development.

The Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Akin Dare disclosed this  in Lagos at the closing ceremony of the six-week training on Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), organised by the Ministry across the 36 States of the Federation, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

He said deliberate and strategic investment in young people is required for the high percentage of the youth population in the country to become a demographic dividend.

“When the youth are positively engaged, there will be a reduction in the indices of crime and delinquency, which are factors that are inimical to national development efforts”, Dare said.

He stated that the approach of the Ministry has been the inclusion of youth employment as a priority segment of the National Youth Policy (NYP) for which a framework for implementation has been provided in the Nigerian Youth Employment Plan (NYEP), adding that the agenda which will be launched in the next few weeks, will deliver a comprehensive approach to youth employment interventions through multi sector collaborations, that emphasize on the Four Es: Employability, Entrepreneurship Development, Employment Creation and Equal Opportunity.

“This framework will ensure the inclusion of partners across sectors and will create a robust partnership base through my Ministry that will ensure wider reach of youth employment programmes across the country. With new challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, innovative solutions and a robust partnership are required to support youth participation in the process of rebuilding through deliberate and strategic investment that will lead to sustainable economic growth and transformation”, the Minister added.

According to him, the programme is an expression of the priority focus of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration which is to among other things ensure “job creation for youth and to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next ten years”.

He therefore called on all Nigerian youth to take up the challenge for self-development that will support their inclusion in nation building, stating further that youth have the potentials, talents and energy for skills development and other opportunities that will give them leverage in the global economy.

Mr. Dare assured further that the present Administration is committed to the task of youth development and will continue to provide an enabling environment and innovative solutions to challenges of youth in the country.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Nebeolisa Anako while distributing starter packs and other empowerment tools to the participants at the closing ceremony in Abuja, stated that the Ministry will continue to ensure full implementation of the programmes and projects of the Federal Government in line with the policy thrust of the present Administration.

He explained that the Ministry will continue to monitor their progress periodically to provide guidance and ensure compliance in line with the objectives of the programme.

Mr. Anako who applauded the Federal Government on its various interventions on youth empowerment, particularly the DEEL initiative which was conceived and launched by the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare, said that the programme was designed to ensure a coordinated mechanism that will employ strategies to enhance the competitive aged of Nigerian youth with a focus on Digital Skills, Employability, Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Mentoring.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Director, Enterprise Development and Promotion Department of the Ministry, Mr. Gbenga Momoh  assured that participants will put the skills they acquired during the training into practice for the purpose of self-development so as to enhance economic growth.

Hakeem Busari: Nigerian coach with a special touch

 Gateway United head coach Hakeem Busari had his Secondary education at CMS Grammar School.

He made his name in grassroot competitions in Lagos. Curiosity piqued, Busari shadowed coaches in the academies for a while. His foot now firmly wedged in the door, there was no looking back.

Learning on the job, he swiftly demonstrated his promise on the touchline. His tactical shrewdness, man management and ability to recognise and grab opportunities when they arose helped the coach.

He started his journey as Technical Assistant to the Golden Eaglets before getting employed by Shooting Stars Sports Club in 2008.

His next step was even more unusual. Eager to prove to himself that he could be a success away from the football pitch, Busari studied Sport & Recreation Management at university.

The gaffer had stints at Crown FC and FC BESCOLA. He was well loved by supporters of both clubs.

During his time at Crown, he earned a reputation as one of Nigeria's football's most tactically astute coaches, regularly switching up formations according to the task in hand, whilst always staying faithful to his own unique fundamentals.

Credentials well and truly established, he was targeted by some clubs. However, the appeal of the Bayelsa United was too strong and he was named as Technical Consultant of the club in 2017.

He is also unafraid to take unconventional approaches to his work. The coach also holds CAF A&B Licenses, USA Grade D License and National Institute for Sports, Grade I, Grade II & Grade IV Certificate.

Feats of that kind do not go unnoticed and Gateway United employed him in 2017, where he has worked till date.

Pillars recently shortlisted Busari alongside five others for their vacant coaching job. This shows that the ex Crown FC boss is doing something right for a top Nigeria Professional Football League side to notice his potential.

Kogi Government reiterates commitment to support school sports

The Kogi State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Wemi Jones, FCIB, has given assurance that school sports would continue to receive the necessary Support and attention from the Kogi Stte Government.

Jones gave the assurance on Wednesday while addressing Kogi Contingent to the National Racket game competition holding at Teselim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.

The Commissioner charged the contingent   to be good Ambassadors of Kogi State, and go all out to make the State proud by winning medals.

He further enjoined them to imbibed the spirit of sportsmanship by following the laid down rules and regulations to excel at the competition.

Responding, the Director of the Department, Mr Daodu Peter, commended the management of the ministry of education for their continued support in sponsoring Kogi State indigenes to National competition.

Peter promised that the contingent would not let the State down to justify the huge resources invested on them by winning medals.

Giving the analysis of Kogi State contigent to the competition, the Desk Officer on Sports in the Ministry, Mr Gwatana Silva, stated that six technical crew and coaches and participating students made the trip to Lagos.

According to him, the scope of the National Racket competition, Kogi State representatives are  currently participating in Table tennis, Badminton among others.

Meanwhile, reports reaching the Ministry from the Venue of the competition in Lagos indicated that Kogi State contigent at the competition had started on a bright note.

End

 

NNL Super 8: Ogunjobi Gold Cup charges 3SC, Tornadoes, Remo Stars, Gombe United to win promotion ticket

 Nigeria's prestigious pre-season tournament for teams in the domestic leagues, Ogunjobi Gold Cup Pre-Season Tournament has charged the quartet of Shooting Stars (3SC), Niger Tornadoes, Remo Stars and Gombe United to clinch a promotion ticket.

 

Shooting Stars and former Ogunjobi Gold Cup champion Niger Tornadoes, the duo of Remo Stars and Gombe United plus other four teams El-Kanemi Warriors, DMD FC of Borno, Ekiti United and Insurance of Benin will be chasing the four available tickets for Nigeria Professional Football League(NPFL) football next season.

 

 

Niger Tornadoes

Ogunjobi Gold Cup General Coordinator, Tunde Shamsudeen gave the charge after Remo Stars emerged top of the Southern Conference Group B2 ahead of Insurance.

 

"Over the years, the Ogunjobi Gold Cup has grown to become a brand in Nigeria's domestic football, as it has given teams the needed platform to prepare for the new seasons.

 

 

"Shooting Stars, Niger Tornadoes, Remo Stars and Gombe United are teams that have used the platform to know the strength and weakness of their squads going into the season.

 

 

Remo Stars

"So having come this far, it's best the four teams cap their hard work by earning promotion from the NNL playoff. 

 

 

"We believe they can, looking at their pedigree in the NNL season that ended. Though it's going to be a different ball game in Enugu, which of course is a neutral ground for the eight (8) teams, irrespective of their good form in the season.

 

"However from what I saw in some of the home and away matches involving 3SC, Tornadoes, Remo Stars and Gombe United, I can place a bet on them to gain promotion to the NPFL, as the teams have a sound coaching crew and players that will surely deliver the goods."

 

 

Shooting Stars

The week-long football fiesta will be staged at the 22,000 capacity Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu, Enugu State from Tuesday 7th through to Saturday 11th September.

 

 

Draw for the playoff will be conducted on Monday 6th September 2021 with the opening ceremony and first game holding the next day

Hammola FC goes digital, launches website

Hammola Int'l FC is a professional Nationwide League One (NLO) Division One outfit based in State of Osun.

Nicknamed ‘LeeBombers', the club which debuts in 2020/2021 league season is driven by the vision of the president to give back to humanity by providing platforms for talented grassroots players to showcase their God's given potentials and nurture them to stardom. 

Widely hailed for its distinctive football artistry that facilitates a business model, the new digital platform launched by the club  focused on fans engagement, digital archives, merchandising, players profile, fans membership, match highlights and competitions schedule.

The link www.hammolafc.com is designed for mobile and PC use and will be undergoing constant improvements from time to time, even feedback would be prioritized, because of the portal's stability and flexibility.

According to club General Manager, Coach Adediran AbdulRasheed Adeleke, " the new link would ensure positive outlets for juicy contents with our unusual activities having fans in mind.

" A new way of engaging our fans in furtherance to contents we are pushing on Facebook and Twitter, with the launch of the website, our fans will have more features and packages to benefit from." stated the GM.

Sunday Dare charges Super Eagles as race To 2022 World Cup begins

Chief Sunday Dare, the Nigerian Minister of Youth and Sports Development at a dinner for the Super Eagles on Thursday, the eve of the opening game of their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign where he charged the team to begin the qualifications on a good note.

Nigeria will face Liberia at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos on Friday hoping for another successful qualifying run to the world's biggest football stage, the FIFA Senior World Cup Finals.

Dare praised the players and the coaches for the successes  of the recent past and urged them to kick start this latest campaign with undiminished commitment.

"I sincerely want to appreciate all of you. The technical crew, players and the support staff. You have made us proud in the past and I want to urge you to continue with same zeal and vigour.

"You have demonstrated professionalism and an understanding of what it means to don the green and white jersey of Nigeria. We will be rooting for you to get this qualifying campaign off to a good start and then follow things up with successes in your subsequent matches. We want to be in Qatar 2022 as a participating nation not spectators. I trust you to make it happen for Nigeria and Nigerians."

The Sports Minister also heaped encomiums on the Nigeria Football Federation for their efforts at self funding and seeking private sector support for their programmes.

"Government cannot do it alone. We need collaborations and partnerships with the private sector. These are the resources needed to keep our players and coaches comfortable so they can focus on getting us good results on the pitch.The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development will make the environment conducive for the Nigeria Football Federation to make this sort of breakthrough and progress," Dare said.

Kwara FA Boss, Henry George, Isaac Danladi, Alloy, others celebrate Abdul Momoh on Birthday

Top football stakeholders across Nigeria have showered encomiums, praises on Ace photo-journalist, Abdul Momoh who marked his birthday on the 2nd of September, 2021.

Leading the pack for those that sent their goodwill messages were Executive Chairman of Kwara State Football Association, Mallam Idris Musa Abdullahi, Chairman, Nigeria Club Owners Association, Barr. Isaac Danladi, former Chairman of Kwara United FC, Prince Oladimeji Thompson and Director of Football of ABS FC, Alloy Chukwuemeka among others. 

Barister Dalandi commended the photographer for his outstanding work which he's using to promote football in Nigeria and wished him well in life and his career.

In his own words,  NMMAF Boss, Ambassador Henry George said a lot of good things about veteran sports promoter just as he prayed for him and promised to host him and his family at the weekend in Ilorin.

The Kwara State FA boss, Malam Idris Abdullahi, described the award winning photojournalist as hardworking and noted he was proud of the product from his state in an open gathering in Ibadan.

Similarly, Secretary of the Club Owners Association, Chief Alloy Chukwuemaka also wished Momoh happy more years and charged him to always work harder while praying for him for more success.

Osimhen's story to greatness inspire me and my son into football

By Abdul Momoh

Azeez Olatunji; remember the name? It is expected that not many will recollect the name that early, but few soccer fans, especially Super Eagles' faithful will.

Olatunji was a die hard fan of Super Eagles' forward Victor Osimhen who jumped 30 feet down into the pitch celebrate with the Napoli forward when he scored for Eagles against Lesotho in an Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON qualifying match in Lagos.

In this exclusive interview with Abdul Momoh in Lagos on Thursday, the father of one who is also a grassroot football coach disclosed that Osimhen is his favorite player in Super Eagles and has inspired him and son to venture into the business of round leather game. 

The Iseyin born football enthusiast was arrested for his act on that day but didn't regret any moment of his actions even as he suffered a minor spinal disorder from the incident. 

"I love Victor Osimhen and I'm inspired about him and his story from grass to grace, he's really a motivation for me, my son and my young boys.

"So when he scored against Lesotho, I was so excited so I jumped 30 feet to rush to the field and celebrate with him.

I had spinal pain after and my family took me to hospital when I got home. I realize all is not well with me when I started urinating blood. I'm actually getting better but I'm still feeling a sharp back pain small small now. 

"I wasn't really care about being arrested for what I did because I satisfy my mind and wish. They took me inside Black Maria but when they saw my son crying seriously, they released me."

Azeez further added that he met the Napoli striker at his father's burial and was so happy to take a picture with and his son but looking forward to have a conversation with Osimhen.

I'm rooting for Osimhen to score two or more goals tomorrow.

"I was really happy to see him at his father's burial and it gave me joy that he agreed to take a picture with me and my son. I can't wait to meet him again and have a word with him.

"I'm a football coach my team is Ade Football Academy and I want to help young footballers like my son who I want him to be great in football like Osimhen.

I wish Nigeria win their match here and I'm rooting for Osimhen to score two or more goals tomorrow (against Liberia)."

Sports Minister, Amokachi Welcome Heroic Paralympians

Youth and Sports Development Minister Sunday Dare and the Special Assistant on Sports to President Buhari, Daniel Amokachi led the rousing welcome for the first batch of Paralympians who returned home from Tokyo, Japan.

The athletes, mainly the power lifters, arrived in Lagos Thursday afternoon aboard an Ethiopian Airline flight to the warm welcome of the Minister, Daniel Amokachi, as well as an appreciable number of journalists and supporters.

At the short reception held at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, Sunday Dare and Daniel Amokachi praised the athletes for giving their best and doing the nation proud.

The Sports Minister would also commend them for competing fairly and holding their own against some of the best Paralympians in the world.

Dare said: "You have done us proud. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is happy with you. Nigerians are happy with you and all we can say now to all of you is 'thank you'.

"It is not just about the colour of medals around your necks. Whether you have a medal round your necks or not. You have demonstrated that you have great abilities inspite of your challenges.

"You should also be happy and proud of yourselves. You broke records, set some new world records, received standing ovations many times and held your own against the best and kept your heads up," Dare concluded.