Former Super Eagles defender, captain and head coach, Augustine Eguavoen has come out with a firm declaration that there is a growing need to equip trainers at various grassroots levels across Nigeria with modern technical ideas in the game.

READ ALSO: 40 Grassroots Coaches Begin CAF D Coaching Course as Eguavoen Leads Instructors to Ogun State | Sports247 Nigeria

Sports247 reports that Eguavoen, who is now the technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), pointed out that proper development of players must begin at the community level, hence his emphasis on updated training methods for coaches in that sector.

Eguavoen, who was fondly called ‘Cerezo’ during his playing days, gave his verdict while speaking during an ongoing CAF D-Licence Coaching Course in Ogun State, which has 40 grassroots trainers in attendance.

The ex-international, who was part of Nigeria’s 1994 Africa Cup of Nations winning team and first squad to the FIFA World Cup at USA ’94, was physically present to oversee the smooth running of the course at Agro Terra Resort in Joga-Orile, Yewa North Local Government Area.

The defender-turned-gaffer pointed out that the course was out together with a view to further strengthen discovery of talents, the foundation of football development and empowerment of grassroots coaches across Ogun State.

He added that the D-Licence course, which is organised by the NFF, in conjunction with Ogun State Football Association (OGSFA) and their coaches association, was designed to equip participants with theoretical knowledge and practical coaching skills required for CAF certification.

Eguavoen also stressed the need to make coaching education more accessible to grassroots coaches, as professional training methods are required in the task of grooming young talents from scratch, towards cementing hope in better results for the country through future international engagements.

He declared emphatically, “Coach education is fundamental to football development. We cannot expect to improve the quality of our players without also improving the quality of those who train them.

“Grassroots coaches need access to the right knowledge, modern coaching methods and professional certification to help them perform their roles more effectively. That’s why you must remain committed to continuous learning.

“The knowledge that you gain from all the coaching courses you attend should translate into better training methods, improved player development and higher standards across the game.”

Sports247 gathered further that NFF’s head of coaching education, Dr Terry Oguaje as well as retired FIFA referee, Alhaji F.A. Yusuf and veteran coach, Fatai Akande are the course’s lead facilitators.

First HoldCo Plc has appointed Gwen Mwaba as a non-executive director of the financial institution, effective 15 October, following an approval by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The lender disclosed the appointment in a regulatory filing signed by Abiola Baruwa, the group company secretary, on Thursday.

First HoldCo said the appointment was made in accordance with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) Rulebook.

According to the lender, Ms Mwaba brings significant expertise in corporate governance and board oversight, credit risk and portfolio management, banking strategy, capital deployment, structured trade and commodity finance, development finance, environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, and emerging-market risk.

Profile

Ms Mwaba brings nearly three decades of experience in global banking and development finance institutions, with particular expertise in credit risk oversight, portfolio governance, corporate and sovereign lending, structured trade and commodity finance, development finance and emerging markets.

Until recently, she served as managing director of Trade Finance and Correspondent Banking at the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), based in Cairo, Egypt.

In that role, Ms Mwaba had executive leadership responsibility for trade finance and structured credit activities across Africa and the Caribbean.

The newly appointed director also oversaw a $19.5 billion portfolio of sovereign, financial institution and corporate exposures.

She contributed to the bank’s Pre-Credit and Credit Committees, providing senior credit judgement on major lending transactions. She also oversaw portfolio strategy, sector exposures and country risk limits.

Before that, Ms Mwaba served as regional head for Anglophone West Africa at Afreximbank, overseeing regional strategy and credit origination across Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia and Cape Verde.

Earlier, she was executive vice president of Structured Trade and Commodity Finance at Standard Bank Plc, London, where she was responsible for complex commodity finance, export credit agency-backed facilities and pre-export financing transactions across Africa.

Her earlier banking career included senior roles at Stanbic Bank Zambia and Standard Bank South Africa, including head of Vehicle and Asset Finance and head of Corporate Banking.

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Ms Mwaba’s wider industry experience includes membership of the editorial board of Trade Treasury & Payments.

Until recently, her also served on the Multilateral Institutions Board Advisory Panel of the International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA) and the World Trade Organization-led Expert Group on Trade Finance.

Ms Mwaba holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom.

She is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and holds a professional qualification from the Chartered Institute of Transport.