The Nigeria Netball Federation (NNF) is set to unveil a five-year plan aimed at further developing the grassroots level of the sport in the country.
The organisation’s general secretary Esther Aluko states that its main short-term aim was to have a Nigerian netball team compete at the Accra 2023 African Games, which has been postponed until March 8 to 23 next year.
“The five-year plan will be unveiled in two weeks time and we want to leave a legacy that other federations will emulate,” Aluko said, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria.
Aluko said that the plan would not be administered in the same way as other Federations would do it as it would be set up like a corporate entity “because of the experience of the people on the Board.”
NNF President Henry Nzekwu claimed that the postponement, which was mainly down to Ghana’s worst economic crisis in a generation, has been a blessing in disguise for the NNF as it will allow for extra preparation time.
“Netball is an event that will feature at the African Games but the Ministry needs to inform the Olympic Committee to register Nigeria for participation,” he said.
“Netball has been registered officially at the Corporate Affairs Commission by the Federal Government following the mandate given by the Federal Ministry of Sports.
“So, the chairman is working on it presently and you know the Games would have been held this year but was postponed.
“{We} will be granted access because apart from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, any country coming from West Africa will be gladly accepted to be part of it.”
Aluko added: “We have been working for years to be part of the Commonwealth netball and we are hopeful that our country will be included.”
The NNF is currently in a feud with Naija Netball stakeholders.
The latter organization claims that Aluko and Nzekwu have illegally registered the NNF and believe that their actions violate sporting principles.
