Nigeria Judo Federation: NSC Urged To Overhaul Federation After Board Dissolution

The National Sports Commission (NSC) has been commended by the founder of Ekus Judo Club Benin, Eke Osahon, for dissolving the Musa Oshodi-led board of the Nigeria Judo Federation (NJF), describing the move as a bold step towards restoring sanity to the sport.

Osahon said the NSC’s decision was in the best interests of Nigerian judo and would help reposition both the sport and its federation. However, he urged the commission to go a step further by supervising a comprehensive overhaul of the Nigeria Judo Federation.

Such an exercise, he pointed out, should address the bottlenecks created by a constitution allegedly produced and used by some federation officials without the broad approval of the judo community.

Nigeria Judo Federation Needs Constitutional Review

“We want the Augean stable cleared before another election. As a stakeholder in judo, I’m happy with the dissolution of the board, and I will be happier if and when the NSC thoroughly looks into the issues that have bedevilled the federation,” the Ekus Judo Club boss said.

“The previous board had a self-made or inherited constitution that is fraudulent. It must not be allowed to be used any more. Any constitution that the Nigeria judo community did not endorse must be thrown out.

“We need to purge the federation before elections are held in order to make room for people with integrity to come on board.”

Stakeholders, Diaspora Sponsors Must Be Considered

Osahon also called for greater consideration of the interests of stakeholders and development partners, particularly Nigerians in the diaspora who sponsor and support judo development in the country.

“Whatever we are doing, we should consider the interests of all stakeholders, particularly the major development partners, diaspora sponsors and supporters. We don’t want anything that will make our development partners and sponsors withdraw their support,” he said.

Nigeria Judo Federation’s International Performance Raises Concern

He expressed concern over the Nigeria Judo Federation’s poor performances at major international competitions in recent years, attributing the situation to leadership challenges within the federation.

Secretary-General of the Nigeria Judo Federation, Ngozi Amayo, announced the dissolution of the Musa Oshodi-led board in a statement addressed to judokas, state judo associations, clubs, coaches, referees and other major stakeholders.

The statement confirmed that the National Sports Commission had dissolved the board.

It added that the board had ceased to act or represent the Nigeria Judo Federation in any capacity. Stakeholders were also urged to disregard any meeting notice, invitation, circular or other information purportedly issued by the dissolved board.