. Names committees
Rising from its inaugural board meeting on Tuesday in Lagos, the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation has picked Abuja as the host of the 2017 National Open Championships holding in December.
The meeting was held at the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) board was attended by President, Mrs Margaret Elizabeth Binga, the Secretary-General, Mr Taiwo Oriss and seven board members – Chief Jonathan Nnaji [International Rep], Dr Mrs Patricia Anyanwu [NAPHER-SD Rep], Mr Obumneme Arum [South East], Mr Anthony Anafulu [North Central], Alhaji Sani Lawal [Technical Rep], Mr Adewale Adebisi [Instiuitional Rep] and Chika Chukwumerije [Athlete’s Rep].
The eight-hour long meeting had at the top of its agenda, the Federation’s constitution draft and the NTF calendar for 2017 & 2018.
The approved NTF calendar signalled the ambitious resolve of the new administration, under the leadership of its first female President, Mrs Margaret Elizabeth Binga, to keep its practitioners engaged.
The headliner event for 2017 will be the Nigeria Open, scheduled to hold 6 – 9 December 2017 at FCT Abuja, which will be organized alongside with a National Referee Course. The tournament will be the first ever taekwondo tournament wholly owned by the Federation, with the NTF planning to secure World Taekwondo ranking status for the event in 2018.
Next month, the Federation will be taking basic coaching seminars to Maiduguri, Abakaliki and Makurdi. During the trip to Maiduguri, the Federation will take the opportunity to visit IDP camps to donate some taekwondo kits and explore the possibility of introducing Taekwondo into the IDP camps.
This last initiative is in line with the International Charter recently signed by the Federation with the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation [THF], a critical project of World Taekwondo.
In 2018, the Federation will start its year with a National Trials for the Seniors National Team, with follow-up National tournaments for Kiddies, Cadets and Juniors. In addition, there will be basic coaching and referee courses littered across the country.
For its constitution review, a five-man committee was set up to study the constitution of the International Federation, the constitution template given by the Nigeria Olympic Committee, the code of governance issued by the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports, and various other constitutions. The mandate was to come up with a robust constitution draft that will govern the Federation and report back within 14 working days.
Chairman of the Committee is the legal practitioner on the Federation, Barrister Obumneme Arum; World Taekwondo [WT] and African Taekwondo Union [AFTU] Member, Chief Jonathan Nnaji; 3-time Olympian Chika Chukwumerije; three-time University Champion and World Taekwondo Certified Coach, Alhaji Sani Lawal; and the North Central Representative, Mr Anthony Anafulu.
To ensure that the burden of governance is streamlined, the Federation approved 14 committees, largely mirroring the committees of the International Federation.
The approved committees are: Technical Committee, which has the Games/ Event Management Sub-Committee and Referee Sub-Committee; Athlete’s Committee; Women’s Committee; TV & New Media Committee; Marketing & Sponsorship Committee; Juridical Committee; Taekwondo Tour Events Committee; Para-Taekwondo Committee; Ethics Committee; Youth & Collegiate Committee; Anti-doping & Medical Committee; and Scientific Research & Educational Development Committee.
In one of its most crucial decisions, the Federation board unanimously voted to appoint three-time Olympian, Chika Chukwumerije, as the Technical Director of the Federation thus laying on the Veteran’s should the difficult task of ensuring the failure of Rio 2016 Olympics does not happen.
Speaking at the end of the meeting, the President who is a two-time African Champion expressed satisfaction at the eight-hour deliberation exercise.
“We are eager to serve and this board meeting was an open book into the intent of this administration to confront and embrace the challenges head long. We will work hard to find and provide solutions that would develop and improve our sport”.
Leave a Reply