ABUJA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday in Abuja gave the victorious Super Eagles a standing ovation and congratulated them for making the country proud by winning the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The Senate also passed a vote of confidence on Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, the team's technical, and Nigerian coaches.
The resolution was sequel to a motion on the country's glorious outing at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) moved by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.
The motion was unanimously supported by the senators, who spoke glowingly about the spectacular performance of the Super Eagles on their way to emerging as Africa champions.
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 our sports administrators to believe in our 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 our sport teams, because such attitude will not help the country's sports development.
Mark said Keshi's purported resignation was due to his opposition to plan by 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 honors on them and naming streets after them in their states of origin.
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