By Ayo Bada
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Youth and Sports, Senator Obinna Ogba was a surprise visitor to the Super Eagles’s training session at the National Stadium, Abuja on Wednesday morning. The U-23 team, preparing for a friendly against the Brazil Olympic team in Brazil on Thursday next week, joined the session with the Super Eagles.
Ogba, a former member of the NFF Executive Committee, said he was on his way to a Senate plenary session but decided to check on the teams and see their level of preparation for the assignments ahead of them.
He told the players: “I want you to know that it is a privilege to represent Nigeria at any level, so you must not disappoint us. The only language we understand in Nigeria is winning, even though in sports it is impossible to win all the time.
“As you go on to the pitch, you must make up your mind to give your 100%. Nigerians appreciate good effort when they see it, even when a team does not win. However, I am charging you to put up good effort and also win your respective matches. So, go and do your very best and I believe God will crown your efforts.”
Ogba, who is also Chairman of the Ebonyi State Football Association, and who served in the penultimate Board of the Nigeria Football Federation, commended the efforts of the present NFF administration led by Amaju Pinnick for adequate preparation of National Teams for major matches and championships.
“The Amaju Pinnick–led NFF has been doing very well in the area of preparation of our National Teams for competitions, and I believe they have the capacity to do even more.
“We, in the Senate, will make sure government provides all the necessary support for sports, not just football, to thrive. We will do our best possible to make sure all of you representing Nigeria in all sports get all your entitlements as at when due.”