Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Tammy Danagogo, has commended members of the newly-inaugurated board of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN) for withdrawing the court case which had hampered its inauguration, urging other federations to borrow leaf.
Danagogo made the plea last week when he inaugurated the new board in Abuja. The board, which is made up of 12 members, has Dauda Yusuf as President and Adamu Elijah Ameh as Secretary-General.
He expressed optimism that handball will excel beyond its present stage, as the warring factions have decided to sheathe their swords and unanimously agreed to work as a team, for the game of handball in Nigeria to move forward.
He said: “I am truly happy that you are able to resolve the challenges yourselves, and this depicts the true spirit of sportsmanship.”
He noted that handball is a team event, which has a lot of followership in the country, adding that the maturity exhibited by the board members will endear the federation to corporate bodies and private individuals who will be enthusiastic to become sponsors.
Admonishing the board to learn from their challenges, he called on other federations to emulate the handball federation.
His words: “I would want to call on all federations that have wrangling to resolve their impasse in the interest of the nation, as the country’s interest surpasses individual pursuit.”
He added that no matter how much government wants to spend in sports, the atmosphere of quarrel will discourage it.
In his remark, the President, Dauda Yusuf, pledged the loyalty of the board and assured that it would kick-start “programmes that will enable the federation to recover the period lost”.
The Director General of the NSC, Gbenga Elegbeleye, in his address clarified that the tenure of the board will terminate along with that of other federations.
He advised members to gear up and focus on driving the sport to a greater height.