Cricket Has Come To Stay In Nigeria

In spite of the challenges facing the development of cricket in Nigeria, the president, Nigerian Cricket Federation (NCF), Engr Emeka Onyeama, has insisted that the game has come to stay. He said plans are underway to institutionalise the game and make it a household name in the country.

Speaking to newsmen yesterday in Abuja, he said top on the priority list of the federation is to build international standard cricket pitch and three training grounds at the package B of the Abuja National Stadium.

According to him, the pitch will be a multi-phased project that will operate ‘sport for all’ policy and allowing Nigerians from all backgrounds access to cricket.

“Nigeria is ranked 29th cricket playing nation in the world but till now we are still playing cricket on concrete and not soft ground. Our major problem is lack of pitch of international standard, but efforts are on-going in this regard to build standard cricket pitches and training grounds.

“I am happy that the National Sports Commission (NSC) recognised the need to have better cricket facilities in the country and they have provided us the land to develop these facilities.

These facilities would not only serve as home for cricket, it will create awareness for Nigerians, provide jobs and increased tourism because Nigerians will start to see India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Britain and other top cricket playing nations coming to Nigeria to play cricket and you know what that will mean to our economy.

“Sponsors are ready to come in but they want to first see the structures on ground. Once we can get standard pitches, the game will move like a rocket in Nigeria and many people will come with their sponsors, money, and everything we need to boost our economy and improve the sport,” he stated.

He said the ground-breaking ceremony of the pitch will hold during the NCF General Assembly and board meeting coming up at the end of next month in Abuja.

On the efforts made to institutionalise the sport, Onyeama said, “Sports is synonymous to education because every child needs both sports and education to grow up; that is development and sustainability of the game. We have taken cricket back to the Nigeria School Sports Festival. It was played as demonstration sport last year in Ilorin, Kwara State and it is going to feature as scoring sport in this year school sports festival in Otukpo, Benue State. This is the beginning of sports development which is encouraging children from age 10 to 17 which are found in secondary schools. The Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF), has accepted us and we are working together to promote cricket in schools.

The NCF boss believed Nigeria has made steady progress in cricket, although there are more to be done to attain the status of other cricketing nations. “Before we came in, Nigeria was in division seven and we got promoted to division six. We went to Sri Lanka and got promotion to division five and when we went to Malaysia to compete for promotion to division four, we came fourth and the rule says two teams will advance further while two teams will go down. So we are still in division five of the championship. We are ranked 29th in the world and we are playing in the world cup which is a very big achievement.

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