Kingsley Okereke, newly technical representative on the board of the Nigeria Shooting Sport Federation (NSSF), has promised to uplift shooters spirit.
Okereke on Thursday emerged the representative after polling 23 of the 30 votes cast in the election held at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Okereke said the federation’s board would deploy modern equipment to develop the game.
“Every athlete has been agitating for good management and we have felt the pains and the crunch of mismanagement.
“We know where the problems lie and we are going to address them.
“With new rules, new equipment, new ways of acquiring shooting skills, attitude and knowledge, we will bring the athletes in and we also intend to enhance our facilities,” he said.
He said the federation would work hard to develop the sport from the grassroots, adding that it would partner with the International Shooting Sport Federation.
“We will uplift the spirit of the athletes, we want to develop more shooters from the grassroots in Nigeria.
“Nigerians are highly talented and we discovered that if we bring people to the range within two days they are performing better than people that have been living with the gun for years.
He said the federation would encourage states to organize shooting competitions.
“River State have good shooting facilities that have not been in use and lying fallow there.
“We will encourage states to organize shooting competitions so that our athletes will not be roasting, “ he said.
In the election for the post of players’ representative on the shooting board, Yetunde Olabode, won with 19 votes out of 24 votes, while her rival, Samuel Effiong, polled five votes.
In her post-election speech, Olabode said she would always be there for the players while on the board.
“The athletes believe so much in me and they know my strength. I’m highly honoured and humbled for such clarion call to take such responsibility and I promise not to let them down.
“I know where the lapses are and we are going to work as a team; we know where to put more effort to achieve our purpose,” she said.
She also said that the federation’s board would concentrate on grassroots competition so as to get players for future international competitions.
“I started as a teen shooter and for the past 20 years I have been participating in the sport.
“We will work more on grassroots competitions to discover raw talents that we can use for future international championships,” she said. (NAN)
