By Philip Balepo
It was a little gathering of like minds on Thursday, February 29, 2024, the last day of the second month of the year, 2024, that the Anambra State Chapter of the Sports Writers Association (SWAN) came together to honour “their own”, Tony Nezianya, a veteran of the Sports Writing fraternity.
The fact that a prophet is without honour in his hometown took a new turn, when the Executive Committee of Anambra SWAN, took a more positive view of that adage. And for the second time in the history of SWAN in Anambra, Tony has been given the privilege of delivering the keynote address at the annual SWAN Week, last year being the second in the series.
Anambra SWAN wears the envious tag of being one of the most peaceful and organized chapters of the association in the country.
Tony remains the only Nigerian journalist to have had a third tenure at the Nigeria Olympic Committee as a Public Relations Officer.
He has traversed the world more than 28 times and remains the No. 1 Olympic Sports Journalist in Nigeria, if not Africa, a feat that even the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has yet to officially acknowledge.
Anambra SWAN therefore is proud to tell the world that one of their own is among the best, hence the honour.
And today, the young sports journalists in the State can be rest assured that the great experience garnered by Nezianya will be beneficial to them all that need to grow in the industry.
The sports guru took time to share his experiences with his colleagues but cautioned that “passion drives the profession.”
He perhaps believes that he is part of the privileged few, who however gave their best to get to the top.
“From my little beginnings in Minna, I was moved to Lagos and the rest, like they say, became history.”
“Lagos offered me a big leap, which my boss in Minna created.”
”I used to be on the beat for five out of seven days a week and even two weeks out of the four weeks in a month. But never forget that I was meshed in the job, heart and soul.”
”My passion was my inner drive and my nose for news, a bonus.”
Tony prayed the Anambra State SWAN “to remain focused, united and objective, as a new wave of disloyalty and mischief is hovering over the entire world of sports in the country”.
He commended the State Exco and the members for not joining forces with the detractors and the mischief makers who are trying very hard to bring the Association to disrepute.#
