The captain of Nigeria’s bronze-winning men’s hockey team at this year’s African Games, Michael John has opined that the sport needs 80% attention from the country’s government.
John made this assertion while celebrating his team’s heroic third-place finish in Accra, where they defeated highly-favoured Kenya 2-1 in the losers’ final.
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While admitting that Friday’s victory did not come on a platter of gold, John added that they would do better if the Nigerian government stopped giving total attention to football and looked in the direction of hockey.
He stated expressly that hockey players need more equipment and modern facilities to stand credible chances of contesting favourably with opposing teams.
The excited Nigerian flickers’ skipper posited: “We all appreciate our fans and families back home that have been supporting us with prayers. It is not easy.
“Bronze means a lot to us because, whatever God has done for us, we must appreciate Him. All praise goes to God for everything.
“We want to use this medal to remind the government that it is not only football that they need to focus on. They should put their eyes on us with 80% support.
“See the opponents that we played against here, they have better equipment than us. We need more equipment and we need to have playing tours.
“Our government also need to help us with the latest type of pitch, like the one on which we played here. The one in Nigeria is soft, but this one is hard. They need to upgrade our facilities and provide more equipment.”
John stressed the need for adequate attention and better preparations to make hockey players put in their best efforts and clinch trophies for Nigeria
