By Ebenezer Osamo –

National Wheelchair tennis Coach, Frank Termena, has described Nigerian tennis as being in a state of total decay.
The vastly-travelled coach, who has tutored the National disabled players to the Paralympics on two occasions, stated that nothing is working for the sport anymore.
Termena, who expressed his frustration at the way the sport is being run in the country, told eyeonthesports.com that virtually all the players are beginning to find something else for themselves.
“It is pathetic that all these things are happening to us in this part of the world where we have found ourselves,” he said.
“We have ourselves to blame, but our leaders who have put us in this state should also explain what is happening better.
“They blame the coaches for not working, but I ask which coach would work under an atmosphere without even a minimum motivation?
“Everything just seems vague and nobody seems to be saying or doing anything to better the lots of tennis in this country. It is sad, but then what can anyone do when we cannot help the situation?” Termena queried.
With some of his players opting for other sports since tennis has not been ‘active’ since the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Open a few months back, the coach believes they may have been left with no option for survival.
According to him, “when a person has chosen his means of livelihood and it was cut off, what do you expect him to do? Steal?
“The most interesting aspect of the whole story is that even club members and players seldom train on the courts these days.
“Everybody is presently on his own, looking out for a means of survival. I am sure that even the journalists writing about the ills in the sport will be neglected by others.
“And they will even find it difficult to get stories to write about because the sport is virtually dead in the country”.
“We really need a change for tennis to move forward. It is our passion for the game that has kept us in it and not the money which we are not even getting,” he enthused.
The Nigeria Tennis Federation, NTF on its own part, keeps promising to improve the lots of Nigerian players, but this is yet to materialise.