NOC Presidency : Give others a chance, Maduka urges Gumel

By Bridget Amaraegbu

WITH the incumbent president of the Nigeria Olympic Commission (NOC), Alhaji Habu Gumel battling opposition to retain his seat, former President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Dr. Cosmos Maduka has said he (Gumel) should allow others contribute to the body.

Speaking on the recent disqualification of some candidates including the Sports Minister/Chairman, National Sports Commission (NSC), Engineer Sani Ndanusa, Dr. Maduka said that the right thing to do was for people to quit after the expiration of their tenure instead of clinging on to power.

“In my opinion, the right thing is to serve your tenure and leave for others to continue,” he said adding,”if not then something is fishing.”

Still stressing on the need to give room to other people to contribute their quota in the running of the NOC, the former table tennis boss who contributed his personal funds in the running of the sport in the country said, “Those who are holding (tightly) on to power should always remember that death is inevitable.”

•Sani Ndanusa with Habu Gumel

Asked whether he would like to run for the NOC top job, Dr Maduka said he will only give it a thought if he is invited to come and serve, stressing that he is not a politician and therefore will not contest for any position.

“For me, I will only be involved in the NOC if the people think it’s something I can handle. I like to be entrusted with a position and I’ll deliver. I’m not a politician, so I don’t want to contest for
any position,” he emphasised.

The Nnewi-born businessman who recently bagged the Success Digest Enterprise Award for Entrepreneur of the decade said if given the opportunity to serve as president of the NOC, he would do his best.

He stressed that “it’s a shame that most times even the people who flaunt themselves for positions are not always the right people but what can we do.”

On the award, he said, “for me it is a call to work harder. Awards like this where excellence is celebrated is inspirational to both the awardee and the guests present.

Recently, retired Major General Ishola Williams, renowned handball and baseball administrator, said if he had a choice on who becomes NOC president, he would recommend people like Dr. Maduka for his strong private sector background which will help in attracting sponsorship for sports.

Federation chairmen set to confront NOC ….As outgoing PRO insists election will hold

As the Board of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) composed mainly of the Chairmen of Olympic sports and the Executive Committee has charged the Olympic body to call for an emergency meeting to resolve the crisis preceding its election next week, the NOC has said that the date of the election, December 9, 2009 remains unchanged.

Chairmen of the Federations who met in Abuja last Tuesday said the Executive Committee did not take them into cognisance before fixing a date for the election, stressing also that a three-member electoral committee to supervise the election should have been appointed.

A press release issued by the outgoing PRO of the NOC, Tony Nezianya stated that “The Annual General Meeting (AGM) and elections into the Executive Committee of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) will go on as scheduled on Dec. 9, 2009. The host city remains, Dutse, the Jigawa State capital.

“The information aired by some media organisation to the effect that there was a shift in date is not only false but a calculated attempt to derail a process that had since been finalised.”

However 18 of the Federation  Chairmen who met in Abuja said if the NOC fails to heed their call for an emergency meeting they will cause the postponement of the election because “the NOC belongs to the federations and not to the Executive Committee”, one of the chairmen said.

The chairmen equally said that some of the Executive Committee members  who cleared themselves to run in the election are eligible as the federation they claim to belong to is not recognised by the National Sports Commission