Women In Sports

"My noble intention is to train and mentor weightlifter who will win medals for the country (Nigeria) not only at African Championships but Commonwealth and Olympic Games. There are strong young girls who are capable of making the nation proud but all they need it the enabling environment. What I intending doing to capture some of these girls with raw strength and convert them into refined lifters; that is why I have a center in Offa. Offa is a big community where we have influential personalities who love weightlifting. One of the missions is to make sure the sport is back, the athletes train and produce lifters that will beat my record"

"I came to the World Championship to boost the morale of the athletes and see what the competition is like, compared to the past. My assessment of the weightlifters was that they have done very well according to the level of preparation and support from the President of Nigeria Weightlifting Federation, Dr Ibrahim Abdul."

"Basketball is a quality game with abundant talents. Players have different qualities that they can offer. Being a national team snub doesn’t make one a bad player."

"I am optimistic with the current performance of the weightlifters; Nigeria will qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games."

"My advice to the weightlifters is to return home; remain consistent in their training, remain focused and avoid distractions."

"National team selection should be based on quality and form rather than where the players are based. This will give hope to everyone as it will make the situation a level playing ground. It will make players have hope and play their hearts out during national team duties."

"The girls know what I’ve done and they look up to me a lot. I can see them paying really close attention when I work with them, and it helps that I can still step on the pitch and show them how certain things should be done. The other day, one of the girls came up to me and asked, ‘Mum — they call me that — can I ever be like you?’ And I told her, ‘No, you won’t be like me – you will be better than me. That is why I am here: to get you to that level."

"It’s not all been easy, of course, because it’s a new environment for me and the culture and food are very different. But the Indian people are so warm and receptive, and the players — because they have the right attitude and willingness to learn — are developing very fast. Each one of them is a work in progress, but it’s clear the talent is there."

"Lots of people asked me, ‘Why are you going to India? It’s not a football country.’ But I told them that I was coming here to prove a point because, with this U-17 World Cup, we are working towards a goal. And we want to surprise the world."

"It was a very nice surprise to get the call from Thomas [Dennerby] asking me to do this job. The fact he picked me is a big compliment and it makes me very happy because to me, he is not just a coach or a boss or a mentor. He’s like a father. I have learnt so much from him on and off the field."

"I’m not afraid of growing old and I’m not afraid of death because I try to make every second in my life count by doing everything that pleases God. In the next five years, I will like to be somewhere peaceful with my twin babies…by His grace. I love kids and pets to a fault and admire people who are verbally captivating."

"I really enjoy working as a goalkeeping coach and the best part is that I don't need to open any book to teach. I haven't come all the way from Nigeria just to visit India or participate for the sake of it. I am here because I want to create the best goalkeepers in India and each game we play, I want our goalkeeper to be the best player on the pitch."

"Women’s football is developing very fast, and it’s great to see. When I came through, it was very, very tough for a girl to start playing the game. There were so many barriers, particularly in certain parts of the world. But minds are opening now. Even in more ‘traditional’ countries, it’s becoming easier for girls to say to their parents, ‘I want to play football’. And I think players in my generation have helped pave the way for that. Unlike us, girls nowadays can now look around at women players who have achieved a lot and say, ‘I want to be like her’."

"I feel that I have tried after 15 years with the national team. For me that is a very good record, and it was about time I left the stage for the younger ones. They are equally good, they can carry on. I wanted to quit before the last World Cup, but I was asked to come back and play. It was very disappointing (Falcons performance at Canada 2015) because I’d thought we had what it took to get as far as the final or even the semis, but I thank God though."

"By the time the World Cup in 2015 came along, it was like I was always eager to play. I loved playing the big tournaments -- the World Cup and the Olympics. I loved being there and seeing the crowd cheering me on, watching me doing my best and doing what I love the most."

"I was nearly raped sometime [ago] when I started playing football. That nearly discouraged me [from continuing my career]. I was travelling to Umuahia for a game and in the neighbourhood, [some men] were asking me out about seven of them. I didn’t know how possible [it is] for one person to date seven friends. I know I was very strong, I was [a] determined person. I knew what I was looking for and I tried to put that behind me."

"I kept my first World Cup in 2003 and it was a tough set of games. However, my most memorable moment was against the USA in the third game. Even though we lost 5-0, I was the most valuable player in that game. My first World Cup outing wasn't easy. Playing in front of that big crowd seemed too much to take in. However, after the first experience, I came out very motivated and bold for the next one."

"Everyone knows me but I still don’t have friends because I use every little free time I have to do some more work. I came to India to achieve results. I am here for a goal and I’m not resting on my oars or using my time for other things until that goal is achieved."

"In Nigeria, they see me as a role model and refer to me as 'mother' or 'mama'. When I was playing, my colleagues had a lot of respect for me and now, seeing me as a coach, they transferred that respect to me and made the work easy."

"Aside football, acting and entertainment are my passion. Fashion and designing is a third choice. I am a comedian. Anywhere I am, they spot me easily. First time I traveled with the Indian U-17 team to Turkey for International friendlies, I didn’t know I was already acting and people started laughing out loud, clapping and gathering around me. They were actually struggling to catch a glimpse of me."

"I gave myself fifteen years [to play with the Super Falcons]. Making it [a] hundred [caps] will be like taking another one to three years again with the national team because I ended in 2015. I joined the Super Falcons in 2000. I looked at myself twenty years then; 15 years and I was 35. I wanted to end when I was still at my peak; I wanted to leave football, I didn’t want football to leave me. I didn’t want to force myself playing football."

"I was 20 years old and it wasn't easy then because I was still very young to be in the senior team. The coach I had then gave me lots of motivation and encouragement, and made me believe in myself."

"We dreamt of a place where people could find mental health support free from stigma and judgment. At the time, we only knew that Rwanda needed a safe space for mental health, but we did not realize just how deep that need ran."

"My message today is simple: Let’s help each other. Let’s seek help when we need it. Let’s be strong -not by pretending we have it all together, but by allowing ourselves to heal and by supporting one another."

"Women have the power to heal a nation, We are tender, we are listening, and we understand pain in ways that make us natural caregivers.."

"On this International Women’s Day, I celebrate every woman who has found the courage to heal. I celebrate the women who stand beside others, offering a listening ear and a helping hand."

"I find myself reflecting on the resilience of women and the incredible power we hold to heal."

"I have walked the long and painful road of trauma, grief, and healing. I have also witnessed, time and time again, the strength of women; the way we rise, even when the weight of the world is on our shoulders."

"Healing is not a privilege; it is a right. And when women heal, families heal. Communities heal. Nations heal."

"In a country that has endured the worst of humanity, it was women who stood at the forefront of healing, We carried not only our own pain but also the burdens of our families and communities."

"Apart from Ogunkoya, only two other Nigerians have been able to go under 50s: Charity Opara & Fatima Yusuf who are members of this exclusive club. In 1998, Opara ran a PB of 49.29s in Rome, while Yusuf ran a PB of 49.43s to win the African Games title in Harare in 1995!"

"I chose to practice sports Journalism because I felt I could."

"I have been with you for years and we know ourselves deeply. I think we would make better couple. I have a deep feeling for you. Tried as I did to suppress it, I get more and more troubled."

"Being born near the stadium was one of the factors that made me fall in love with sports"

"I believe in dreaming big no matter what comes your way. That was inspired by Andrew Kabura of SuperSport"

"To every woman reading this: Your well-being matters. Your healing is powerful. Your resilience is shaping a better world. Do not give up!"

"I am very happy to have Precious Dede here as one of my coaching staff. Some will be surprised by my choice of her [Dede] because we did not work together for much time in Nigeria. I like her a lot and I know she is a really good goalkeeper coach and also a role model. I'm glad to have Per Karlsson and Dede as assistants around now, with some good staff from India. I strongly believe we can achieve great things together with hard work."

"I will say that sports has been or was in my DNA. I started from my primary school days. But I got noticed while I was running for my secondary school during the school inter-house sports competition at Obieziama Secondary School in Imo State. One of the athletics coaches at the then Imo State Sports Council, Chief Leo Ozurumba, just came to me after my race. He said to me, ‘you will run for Imo State and for Nigeria. You have the talent and determination.’ He later took me to the Sports Council and that was when it all started. I was about 12 years then."

"Hard work. Every training session was like my last on earth. There was the target of breaking and setting records before you. The coaches will remind you of getting your personal best time. At times, I even trained with the guys. This propels you to train daily as if your life depends on it. But truly, our lives then depended on athletics. So my strength was diligence. But I must add that once I remembered that I was running for Nigeria, it also drew inner strength for me."

"Fashion is your way of life. It is your statement. It is the way you feel like expressing yourself in all ramifications of life. For me, fashion is not just about dressing or makeup or jewelleries. It is about the way you speak, the way you carry yourself in public and the way you comport yourself among others. I don’t wear heavy makeup nor go crazy about clothes. I try to be as simple as possible. I also love to be very smart in appearance, may be because of my background as a former athlete."

"I am happy with the return of the National Sports Festival, after an absence of six years, because this is is an avenue from where we can spot future talents."

"We made the whole world to focus on just the two of us in the women’s 400m. Charity was in great form and had a 5-0 lead in our first five meetings together. I remember she ran an altitudes aided 49.87 in Johannesburg and I came a distant second in 50.27."

"I lost to Charity by the narrowest of margins in Oslo (50.13 to 50.15) and thought I was getting back to shape but when she scorched to a new 49.29 seconds personal best at the Golden Gala in Rome, I was scared my African record would be gone that year if I didn’t get into shape. I was third in that race that night in 49.89 seconds. It was my first run inside 50 seconds that year but Charity’s performance got me really worried. She was 3-0 up at this stage but my worry and that of my coach, Tony Osheku was that we could lose the African record of 49.10 seconds that got me a bronze medal at the Olympics in 1996. My coach even said if she breaks the record,we would go back to our base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA to train harder. It was that scary"

"In Dakar, Charity was the favourite to win. She was on top of the world ranking at that stage with some quality performances including the 49.29 seconds she ran in Rome which was the second fastest in the African all-time list at the time. I was however unshaken in my resolve to end her dominance over me! In the final, I raced home first in 50.07 seconds with Charity second in 50.13. Wow, I was on top of the world not because it was my second African Championships 400m gold after the win in 1989 in Lagos, but because I was emotionally lifted and I didn’t look back from there, winning the 200m in a new 22.22 seconds personal best. I won our next four encounters in Lausanne, Brussels, Berlin and Moscow at the Grand Prix final before running an altitudes aided 49.52 seconds to win the World Cup in Johannesburg. It was a remarkable turnaround for me and a glorious show by Charity and I that got us ranked 1, 2 in the world. That was the first and so far only time Nigerians would dominate an event in the circuit."

"What I am bringing on board is facilities others don’t have in their sport parks and I want to use them to groom potential athletes and give them encouragement. It is my desire to move them to the next level. We are starting this project because we need expansion for more activities, we now have the indoor sports arena, basketball, badminton , graded tracks surface area, football field, we have the gymnasium; it’s a one stop shop for sports activities."

"I proudly congratulate the duo of Tobi Amusan and Ese Brume, both winning at the Diamond League held in Eugene, Oregon, United States of America. Oluwatobiloba Amusan for winning the 100m Women’s Hurdles in a time of 12.33 to reclaim her Diamond League title while Nigerian long jumper, Ese Brume for her silver medal achievement in the long jump event at the Diamond League. The duo of Tobi and Brume represents strength, mental toughness, and the Nigerian spirit....From the Olympics to the Commonwealth Games to the Diamond Leagues, Ese has consistently ranked among the top athletes in her sport globally. I join millions of Nigerians globally to felicitate with both Tobi Amusan and Ese Brume on their deserved wins at the Diamond League. Both victories are those that will restore their confidence after the difficult ordeal both passed through this year....Brume came close to winning her first Diamond League title after leaping 6.85m, just as Ivana Vuketa, who won gold, I am mostly proud of her for finishing strong, despite missing out on first place by very small margins. I urge Tobi, Brume, and other Nigerian athletes to reflect on this season, applaud themselves for their hard work, and look towards the Paris 2024 Olympic Games."

"ESE BRUME HAS WON A GOLD MEDAL! It was never in doubt, but Brume after coming under an early pressure, pulled up TWO Games Records, jumping 700 to reclaim her #CommonwealthGames crown. If there's ever an athlete who always delivers for Naija (Nigeria), it is Ese Brume."

"To tell you the truth, as a former Athlete, I am impressed by this initiative (Abuja Youth Games). This is really very noble. This is what the Ministry of Youth and Sports should encourage because this is the only way we can go back to the grass root to discover future Athletes that can represent the Nation in the future."

"I told myself that I had to tell the federation and everyone that it was about my run up. I wanted to prove everyone wrong, because everyone was like ‘What was wrong with me?’ I was the world leader and all of a sudden I came last. I had to turn to God and put Him first and He did it."

"My dream is to become the world’s best so I know that for the World Championships, I will be on the medals table because I should be doing much better before then. If not the GOLD, I will be on the medals table."