Samuel Ajayi, head coach of the senior national women’s volleyball team, says there is the need to continue to support Musa Nimrod to return as President of Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF).

Ajayi said Nimrod, presently the Chairman of NVBF Caretaker Committee and Federation President until last June, needed to return in order to continue to develop the sport in the country.

He said Nimrod deserved a second term because he took the sport’s development upon himself and made sure all the national teams participated in international competitions.

“All the national teams, starting from the under-18, under-19 to the under-21 and then the senior female and male teams, regularly participate in international championships.

“He did all these without any sponsors. So, he deserves to come back and we are all ready to give him our votes,” the coach said.

Ajayi told newsmen on his team’s arrival from the just-concluded 2021 African Nations Championship that the team made the country proud in the competition because of Nimrod.

“I must give kudos to Nimrod for his efforts, for believing in the female team. I took it upon himself that the female team should go to the Championship in Rwanda

“We went and broke the 16-year jinx. The last time Nigeria team qualified for the Nations Cup was in 2005 .

Agitation does not solve problems – Fashola

“We thank God that we qualified for the semi-finals and played the match before we lost the third-place match to take the fourth position,” he said.

Speaking on the controversy which erupted at the Championship, Ajayi said they discovered that the team put together by hosts Rwanda had some ineligible players.

“As a result, there was a a protest and the FIVB disqualified the Rwandan team.

“I was threatened by the Rwanda people. But I thank God that the Nigerian Embassy in Rwanda came to our rescue. We were locked up and surrounded for three days in the hotel.

“We could not go out for training, and we were only going out to eat in the hotel and go back to our rooms. It was so terrible, but we thank God,” he said.