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Abuja, Feb 13 (IANS) The Nigerian Senate in Abuja gave the victorious national football team a standing ovation and congratulated them for making the country proud by winning the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). The Senate Tuesday also passed a vote of confidence in Super Eagles head coach, Stephen Keshi, the team's technical, and Nigerian coaches, reports Xinhua. Senate President David Mark said the exploit of indigenous sports talents must be appreciated and encouraged in order for the country to achieve more excellence. Mark said the achievement of the current crop of Super Eagles' players was enough for the sports administrators in the country to believe in indigenous coaches and players. "Keshi has demonstrated the need for Nigerians to have faith in themselves both in our own coaches and in our players," he added. He advised sports administrators to desist from interfering with the work of coaches appointed to handle sport teams. Mark said Keshi's purported resignation was due to his opposition to the plan of the Sports Ministry to hire a foreigner to head the Super Eagles' technical crew. He described the interference by sports administrators in the running of the national teams as unhealthy and counter-productive to the achievement of good results in international sports. The senate president urged the senators to prevail on Keshi not to resign his appointment at a time when the country needed his services most to nurture the array of talents under him. The senate, however urged the government to reward the team and their handlers by conferring befitting national honours on them and naming streets after them in their states of origin.
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