Sports
Doping Poses Great Challenge For NIPOGA
The Chief Coach of Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Frederick Yamala, has said that it would be very difficult to detect athletes using steroid during the forthcoming Nigeria Polytechnics Games (NIPOGA).
Yamala stated this in Lagos at the presentation of the institution’s athletes for the 17th NIPOGA, slated to hold at the Federal Polytechnic, Ede between yesterday and April 21.
Yamala explained that NIPOGA had not acquired the anti doping facilities with which to screen out such athletes, saying, the issue of doping “still remains a great challenge”.
“The Nigeria Universities Games and the West Africa Universities Games are already versed in the detection of athletes on steroid because they have the equipment to that effect.
“In NIPOGA, it remains a great challenge, because we are yet to acquire the equipment. It remains a great challenge because it has not been addressed.
“We are seriously looking into the issue and will soon overcome it. It is going to top our agenda at NIPOGA’s next stakeholders meeting,” the coach said.
He however promised that the organisers would do everything possible to curb the use of steroid by athletes at the Ede Games.
Yamala said that YABATECH would storm the Games with 119 athletes of 65 female and 54 male athletes, as well as 26 technical officials.
The coach said that the institution would feature in all events at the games.
Events lined up in the 17TH edition of NIPOGA are: athletics, tennis, table tennis, and chess.
Others he said were taekwondo, chess, basketball, football, judo, squash, badminton, scrabble, handball and volleyball.
Speaking earlier, the chairman, School Sports Committee, Samuel Adeakin, said that the institution was set to emerge the overall champions at the two week event.
Adeakin said that the institution intended to surpass its previous third placed position at the last Games held last year at Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, and reclaim its pride of place in NIPOGA events.
“Apart from the past three editions, we have always emerged as the overall champions at NIPOGA and we are returning to the top again this year”, he said.
“The only challenges we may have at the Games will be from the hosts and perhaps Kaduna Polytechnic.
“To win the Games, we are focusing more on individual events to team events, we are hopeful that individual events will fetch us more medals than team events,’’ he said.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.
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