■ Wike, sports minister, NFF president, coaches, ex-internationals, others expected

Port harcourt, the Rivers State capital, is bubbling for The Sun World Cup seminar, with top government officials, football administrators, coaches, club owners and ex-internationals already in town for the event.

The seminar, with theme: “That Super Eagles may excel in Russia 2018 and Beyond,” is being hosted by the Rivers State government at the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt. The Federal Ministry of Sports and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have endorsed the seminar organised by The Sun to mobilise support for the national team as it goes for honours in Russian next month.

Expected to grace the event is Rivers State governor, Barr. Nyesom Wike; Minister of Sports, Mr. Solomon Dalung, President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mr. Amaju Pinnick, commissioners of sports from various states and former Super Eagles players.

Former Super Eagles coach and first black African to handle a team at the World Cup, Chief Adegboye Onigbinde, will deliver the lead paper, “Super Eagles: Towards a Successful Russia 2018 Campaign.” Ex-Director General of the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), Mallam Danladi Bako, will deliver the second paper, “Galvanising support for the Super Eagles: The role of government, media and other stakeholders,” while ex-director of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Dr. Pat Ekeji, former chief coach of the Golden Eaglets, Mr. Fanny Amun and chairman of Abia Warriors FC, Chief Emeka Inyama, will serve as discussants.

Onigbinde is a man of history and easily the doyen of Nigerian coaches. He entered the record book of the 88-year-old World Cup competition as the first black coach at the World Cup, having led Nigeria to face Argentina on June 2, 2002 in Ibaraki at Italia 1990. Although the second African, after Egypt’s El Gohary, to lead a national team to the global football festival, he remains the first black African to feature as coach at the World Cup.
Onigbinde shot into national prominence in February 1983, when he was appointed as replacement to ex-Nigerian national coach, Otto Gloria, a Brazilian professor. He later became a technical adviser to Trinidad and Tobago, CAF and FIFA instructor on coaching.

Ekeji has been involved in all facets of sports, especially football in the country. He was a footballer for clubs and national team, having played for both the Vasco da Gama FC and Enugu Rangers as well as the national team, the Green Eagles, with which he made a winning debut on July 13, 1975 in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo in Brazzaville. He was also a coach for both clubs and the national team. Ten years after his Green Eagles debut in Brazzaville, he mounted the saddle as the national team coach in 1985. Before handling the Green Eagles, he had coached ACB of Lagos, where Henry Nwosu was one of his star players.

A graduate of Physical and Health Education from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Ekeji later became a lecturer at the Nigeria Institute of Sports, teaching football as a discipline and helping to breed another generation of coaches.
He administered sports at the state level in Imo before coming to the national level, where he rose through the ranks heading various departments – Research and Documentation, Facilities, etc. – before getting to the zenith as Director General.

The novel idea in creating Team Nigeria is one indelible mark Ekeji made on Nigerian sports. During his tenure as the Director of Sports, Nigeria topped the medals’ table at the All Africa Games after previous seven attempts.
Danladi Bako, Kogunan Sakwatto, is a broadcasting prodigy, whose voice, at 16, dominated then Rima Radio, Sokoto, where he presented news and different programmes, in both Hausa and English languages.

He studied at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, where he graduated in 1978. He also obtained a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos.

From NTA Sokoto, where he won the Best Producer/Presenter award and Best Overall Staff award, Bako was transferred to the NTA headquarters in 1983. It was at the national headquarters that he developed the Morning Ride, which could pass for Nigeria’s first live TV talk show in 1988.

In 1999, Bako was appointed Director-General of the NBC, where he served meritoriously before resigning three years later. He had served also as Commissioner of Information, Sokoto State, Board member, Cross River Basin Development Authority 2004-2008 and Governing Council member, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.
Chief Inyama, chairman of the Abia Warriors Football Club and ex-member of the NFF Board, rose from sports journalist to a consummate soccer administrator. He was Commissioner for Sports in Abia State.

Giving insight on the choice of speakers and discussants, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, The Sun Publishing Limited, Mr. Eric Osagie, said the company went for the best hands in sports administration due to the importance it attaches to the seminar.

He said The Sun, in its characteristic way of ensuring excellence, selected speakers and discussants who have been involved in football, either as footballer or administrators and who understand the dynamics of the game.
Osagie said: “It is our wish to see the national team perform better, hence the theme of the seminar is ‘That Super Eagles may excel in Russia and beyond” and our choice of speakers and discussants, who will chart a great course for the team to make impact in Russia.”

He said handlers of the Supers Eagles, the players and football administrators stand to learn much from the seminar, which is coming before the national team’s departure to Russia.

“We are mobilising support for the Super Eagles. We want, through this seminar, to help the team handers learn some insights from coaches and football managers, which they will add this to their rich knowledge. This will help the team at Russia and the nation’s football in future,” Osagie said.
Governor Wike had said his government was hosting the seminar because it would do anything to support football, the Super Eagles and sports general in the country.

“We are committed to supporting football and sports as a whole in the country. We are committed to supporting the Super Eagles in its campaign to Russia. We want the national team to come out victorious at the FIFA World Cup. This is why we are interested in this seminar organised by a reputable newspaper for the benefit of Nigeria,” Wike said.