On Friday, August 12, 2022, he said this as he bid the team farewell at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna. He added that the goal of Nigeria’s participation was to qualify for the world championship and emphasised that “We are also building them up for African Games next year and the next Olympics.”

The players that won Africa’s U-19 championship have moved to the U-21 level,  Engineer Nimrod said.

In his charge to the players, he said, “Take note the big guys from other North African countries are good in U-21 so they know Nigeria is good and they will prepare against NIgeria, I want the coaches to know they would go and monitor past videos of our players, so they should brace up.”

Also Speaking with sports writers, Coach Sani Mohammed Musa of the male U-21 men, said that the team are African champions and has featured in World Championship twice.

He said, that bearing in mind that the North Africans would be battle ready for NIgeria, they will leave no stone unturned in preparing well.

“It is left for us the coaches and players to go and do preparation ahead of the championship,” he said, adding that they will be wary of mostly the North Africans including hosts Tunisia.

They are fully prepared for the competition, according to the team’s captain, Abari Michael, who also noted that they are the U-19 champions and have accumulated enough experience to succeed.

A portrait drawing of the NVBF president was given to him by the volleyball players and coaches as a thank you for helping them advance their careers.