By CrossRiverWatch Admin
A Trustee of CSED Initiative and sport for change activist, Mr. Cornelius Ehimiaghe, and members of the Naija Netball Stakeholders have kicked against plans by some individuals to “hijack netball in Nigeria” by registering a Nigeria Netball Federation.
In a statement seen by CrossRiverWatch, the stakeholders “condemned the brazen actions of some interlopers, namely Dr. Esther Oluwatoyin Aluko and Dr. Henry Nzekwu, who have illegally registered the Nigeria Netball Federation (NNF),” describing the “action of the so-called President and General Secretary of NNF as an illegal action that violates the principle of justice and fair play.”
The stakeholders blamed the hierarchy at the Federal Ministry of Sports, who they say have “failed Nigerians in conducting their developmental and supervisory role in respect of netball, in the past one decade.”
He said: “Naija Netball stakeholders see the recent move by Dr. Esther Aluko and her backers as a desperate attempt to further their personal interest of being relevant in the sports sector in Nigeria. As they do not have any major contribution they have made to the development of grassroots sports in Nigeria, apart from relying on the goodwill of their warped principals, in order to short-change the Nigerian taxpayers, at whose expense they have lived on throughout their more than thirty years of being involved in sport in Nigeria.
“Members of Naija Netball stakeholders expressed their disappointment with the way some friends and associates of principal officers of the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports Development and the NOC have been allowed to hijack the development of grassroots sports in the country, to the detriment of the Nigerian athletes and taxpayers.
“We the stakeholders sent a petition to the Honourable Minister of Youths and Sport on 26th January 2023, complaining about the illegality that has been perpetuated in Nigeria’s netball in the past decade. Instead of investigating our allegation, the next thing we know is that Dr. Henry Nzekwu who is a bosom friend of Mr. Sunday Dare (the current Minister of Youth and Sports), is now the President of the Nigeria Netball Federation.”
Mr. Ehimiaghe stated that since nobody seem to care about the development of netball in Nigeria, CSED Initiative took the bull by the horn and in February 2020, built the first netball court in Nigeria this millennium in Edo State. Also, CSED Initiative trained 24 Nigerians to be certified as Netball Africa Coaches.
“To date, CSED Initiative has trained an additional 216 Nigerian P.E. teachers/youths to become Netball Coaches. These training were conducted in Utoka, Edo State, Mosogar, Delta State, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Enugu, Enugu State, Yenogoa, Bayelsa State, and Jalingo, Taraba State.”
Ehimiaghe further stated that CSED Initiative does not only train teachers in netball, but they have also embedded safeguarding in their training of these coaches, lamenting that the NOC/Sports Ministry in Nigeria does not even have a safeguarding protocol, not to talk of implementing one for Nigerian athletes.
Ehimiaghe added that CSED Initiative has also supported participants with free netball starter packs, including, netball balls, finger-held whistles, two sets of netball training bibs, and two netball rims/nets.