Tertiary institution students from Edo State, have taken the bull by the horns as they have unveiled plans for an annual Sports Festival to honour two of the greatest coaches Nigeria
has ever produced in Shuiabu Amodu and Stephen Okechukwu Keshi.The students under the aegis of the National Association of Edo State Students (NAESS), said through their Planning Committee Chairman, Comrade Oloke Emmanuel and their Director of Sports, Comrade Adeoye Raphael, that the plan is to hold an annual Sports Festival to honour two of the best coaches Nigeria and indeed Africa has ever produced.
The duo said they have spoken to relevant authorities in both Edo and Delta states as well as football managers at the federal level and that they hope to get support for what they have tagged NAESS National Sports Festival In Honour of Shuiabu Amodu and Stephen Keshi. Venue of the maiden even has been scheduled for the University of Benin Sports Centre, as stakeholders meet to fine tune the date for later this year, with the middle of the year already touted.
Comrades Adeoye and Oloke, were emphatic that they were not kidding on the project as they wish to use the Sports Festival to redefine the way heroes are treated in Nigeria, declaring that they were not quite satisfied at the way the duo of Amodu and Keshi were treated at both Federal and state levels when they passed on.
They urged corporate Nigeria to support them in the quest to recognize some of Nigeria’s brightest stars in the game of football, while adding that the festival will not be confined to football alone but all sports, as the two great former national coaches were known to be supporters of all sports and the plan is to use them to signpost the future of sports in the Old Bendel State and Nigeria as well as recognize them, while encouraging the younger generation that if they fight for their country it will never be in vain
