With some giant strides made since taking charge, President of Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Wahid Oshodi has admitted that the federation would not be carried away by the little success recorded in this dispensation.
Oshodi, who is a member of the Nomination Committee of International Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) said there are still more ground to possess in the sport, as the feat achieved by Aruna Quadri as well as the bronze medal won at the last Commonwealth Games in Scotland would not make the NTTF to be complacent.
“Definitely we are not satisfied with what we have achieved and this is where a lot of people get it wrong. We are still living on past glory because our current generation of players has not done much. Aruna Quadri’s achievement last year and our team medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games are now history. We need to move on from that as our next major test as a nation is at the Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville.
We need to fight hard for the seven gold medals at stake. If we can take all seven gold as we used to do many years past that might satisfy my hunger for success for a short period. There are still so many mountains to climb and we are currently at the peak of a small hill. We must in the nearest future aim to be number one in Africa and the Commonwealth as well as a top ten nation in the world. It is achievable but we must set about doing our work properly both players and officials,” Oshodi said
The NTTF boss described fund as a major hiccup faced by the federation, saying most of their programmes have been hampered by paucity of fund.
He added: “For me I see that we have major problems in two critical areas and this includes inadequate funding, indiscipline and lack of commitment on the part of some of our players. We need money to fund our programmes, training, equipment, kitting and attending to the needs of the players, participating in tournaments abroad are some of the areas that we need money for. The lack of funding is hampering our progress.
Some of our players still need to be more professional in their outlook while their lack of respect for coaches and officials is something that militates against their development. We have some excellent role models in our game and we have to continue to educate the young players to emulate these good models.
“I am personally canvassing a stricter disciplinary process for the federation. If you misbehave you will not have a place in the national team. We will continue to find ways to fund our sport in light of the inadequate funding we receive from the government. We understand that we are not football but I make bold to say that if we had five percent of what football gets we would show much greater success,” the NTTF helmsman said.
On coaching, he said: “We are addressing the issue of coaching but again funding is critical to our plans. We need to expose our coaches and I believe we need to bring in a few coaches with vast experience to assist us. From what I have seen in China and all over the world coaches are a very vital cog in the success of a team.
