Several generations of Nigeria 's best sportsmen and women of all sports (Olympians, Professional Athletes, NCAA Champions etc.) will be converging in Houston , Texas , from November 4 to 7, 2004, under the auspices of the Nigerian International Athletes Association (NIAA). This meeting is the 5 th annual convention of the NIAA. The Convention will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 9090 SW Freeway, Houston, Texas 77074, USA, while the Banquet and Scholarship Fundraiser will take place on November 6 th 2004, at King's Court Banquet Hall, located at 14637 Beechnut on Highway 6, Houston, Texas.

We thank God for two bronze medals, but this year, Nigerians all over the world watched painfully as Nigeria's image was battered again by the worst performance ever put up by our athletes at the modern Olympic Games. This does not have to be the case. We were further humiliated to read in the Olympic Games press reports that Nigerian athletes were dissatisfied with the politics, method selection and maltreatment of athletes in Nigeria. The end result of this official malady in Nigerian sports is that our best athletes are defecting to other nations where they are better treated and appreciated. Members of the NIAA saw this disaster in sports coming decades ago and tried to stop the ship from sinking but those in authority rebuffed our efforts. Now the NIAA is back at it again and this time we are determined to seek cooperation and assistance from everyone, organization or country to help guide Nigeria into a glorious new era in sports like we have never seen before. Throughout our competitive years and travels all over the world, we have seen first hand how great athletes are produced in other parts of the world. We can do the same for Nigeria , if we are given the opportunity. We want to restore pride again to the Green-White-Green that we wore so proudly during our competitive era in sports.

NIAA's mission is to provide Nigerian youths with the proper environment and support to achieve their God given potential in international sports while bringing honor and glory to our fatherland, and to foster goodwill and comradeship among Nigerian sportsmen and women all over the world.

In furtherance of NIAA's mission, we have established a scholarship program for promising secondary school student-athletes in Nigeria . In fact, the names of the first batch of the NIAA secondary school scholarship recipients will be announced during the convention banquet.

We have an ongoing scholarship program for outstanding Nigerian student-athletes to attend universities in the USA . Also, we have recently completed a “Master Plan for the Development of Sports at the Grassroots level in Nigeria ”. The plan will be unveiled during the Convention. We strongly believe that implementing our master plan will perpetually guarantee the sustainable development of world class sportsmen and women for Nigeria and save the nation from embarrassing performances similar to the one put up by our athletes at the recently concluded 2004 Olympic Games.

The NIAA cordially invites all sports loving Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora, friends of Nigerian sports, Officials of all Nigerian Sports Federations, Legislators, Sports Minister and his team, State sports council representatives, and the news media, to come and join us in finding lasting solutions to the problems facing the development of sports in Nigeria .

The primary objectives of this year's convention are to develop plans for improving the condition of Nigerian Athletes, raise funds for the NIAA scholarship program, finalize and develop a timetable for the implementation of the NIAA Sports Development Masterplan.

Please join us in celebrating our past successes and help in planning for the future. This is your chance to contribute constructively. To book your hotel reservation, please call 1 800 362-2779 and mention NIAA to get the special rate. If you are unable to attend, but identify with our mission and efforts, please contribute to our scholarship fund by sending a tax deductible donation to:

Hope Obika Waobikeze
Financial Secretary, NIAA
3703 Blackberry Court
Missouri City , Texas 77459
Phone: 281-804-0831