Ned Nwoko urges early and better preparation for int’l sporting events

Ned Nwoko Offers Recipe for Sporting Excellence

By Nosike Ogbuenyi

The founder and Chancellor of Stars University, Idumuje-Ugboko, Delta State, Nigeria, Prince Ned Nwoko has advocated early preparation based on long term planning as a panacea to Nigeria’s and Africa’s unimpressive performance in international sporting events such as the Olympic and the FIFA World Cup.
He made the call in a keynote speech at the Nigeria Diaspora Direct Investment Summit in London, United Kingdom on 15 October 2021.
The Chairman of Prince Ned Nwoko was represented at the event by the Senior Special Assistant on Health Monitoring to the Delta State Governor, Dr Michael Nwoko.
Among other special guests and speakers at the event were the Ondo State Governor, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu and Minister of Sports and Youths Development, Mr Sunday Dare.
Prince Ned Nwoko while focusing on youths development and excellence in sports stated that:
 “In Nigeria and most parts of Africa, we lack long term planning and support for naturally talented individuals whereas, in other societies Olympic hopefuls start preparing four years before any competition. They take years to prepare under excellent environment with facilities and adequate provision.”
While observing that the situation in Africa is different from the scenario in Europe and America, Prince Ned Nwoko declared his readiness to partner with governments and others in order to change that tide for the better.
According to him, the situation whereby athletes are hurriedly invited to camp a month or two before major international competitions cannot guarantee medals for African countries.
“They can’t possibly compete with others based on such knee jerk style. The recent Japan Olympics was a test case where we failed woefully.”
The initiator of malaria eradication in Africa project challenged the authorities and all stakeholders to arise and muster the will power to entrench a new era of sports and talents development anchored on proper planning, support and preparation as the sure route to success.
Speaking about Sub Sahara Africa’s first sports tertiary institution, Stars University, Idumuje-Ugboko in Delta State, Nigeria, he said it was conceived to fill the yawning gap for sports and academic development of the younger generations.
He disclosed that massive infrastructure projects have been achieved at the university which is projected for take off soon.
He said that the university is primed to serve as an exceptional centre for grooming of sporting talents in different fields including football, athletics, boxing, basketball, tennis, golf, squash, badminton, wrestling and self defence arts among others.
Apart from sports related disciplines, the university will also offer many other courses covering sciences, arts, humanities and social sciences.

The summit acknowledged Prince Ned Nwoko as an avid sports lover and patron of education who offers scholarships to numerous students. His passion for sports is reflected in the various sports facilities that adorn his Mount Ned Nwoko Resort, Idumuje-Ugboko. These include an Olympic-size swimming pool just behind the main castle as well as a lawn tennis court and a standard table tennis section.

Prince Ned Nwoko’s support for sports development is manifold and difficult to quantify. Last year, he extended his philanthropic gestures to Team Delta State which emerged overall winners of the 2018 Nigeria National Sports Festival held in Abuja. In appreciation of their five star performance, he hosted the victorious team and boosted them with a princely donation of N20 million.
This is just one example of Prince Ned Nwoko’s numerous philanthropic gestures towards supporting sports development in the State and the Country at large.
He said that a cardinal mission of Stars University is to offer comprehensive tertiary education curricula that places high premium on catching the next generations young and preparing them for academics and sports through joint honors degrees in sports and other disciplines.
Other dignitaries who attended the Diaspora Summit include Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Sarafa Tunji Ishola, the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Senator Lanre Tejuosho, the CEO/Chairman, Nigerian Diaspora Commission, Hon Abike Dabiri and the Senior Trade Adviser on Africa in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London, UK.