Sports
Pillars Now Favourites For League Title
Nigeria league defend
ing champions Kano Pillars are set to clinch a record third straight title with six rounds of games to be played.
But six-time champions Enyimba are expected to push this race for the championship to the wire again.
Pillars sit on top of the league table with 53 points from 32 games, with Warri Wolves second on 52 points from same number of matches.
With three home games and three away games to go, will Kano Pillars make it a three title in a row?
Or would Warri Wolves get their first league shield? Or could it be Nasarawa United or Enyimba, who have won a record six championships?
Pillars can end the season with 63 or 62 points.
The home games left for Pillars are vs Gombe United, Kaduna United and Nembe City and wins in these games will give Pillars nine more points.
Out of their away games against Nasarawa United, El Kanemi Warriors and Enyimba, Pillars could nick a point against El Kanemi as the match will be played at the Sabongari Stadium in Kano, where the champions also play their home games.
Warri Wolves are presently second with 52 points and could well end the season with 61 points if they win their remaining home games against Lobi, Crown and Gombe United.
Their away fixtures are tough and they are not likely to get a point from the three games against Heartland, Sharks and title-chasing Nasarawa United.
Nasarawa United is currently third with 50 points, and they may end the season with 59 or 60 points considering their remaining games.
They have three home games against Pillars, Sunshine Stars and Wolves and if they could win all three, they would have nine more points.
Out of the away games they could get a point at Giwa, but the same could not be said when they face Enyimba and Rangers away from home.
Enyimba have 48 points and now need to win at least an away game apart from claiming all the points at home to be champions again.
‘The People’s Elephant’ are expected to garner nine points at home against Nasarawa United, El Kanemi Warriors and Pillars.
Their remaining away games are against Nembe, Kaduna, who are both battling against relegation, and Dolphins.
If they could beat Nembe and Kaduna, they would end up with 63 points and with the biggest goals difference of +16 so far, they would push Pillars all the way to the top prize this season.
Maybe the final game of the season between Pillars and Enyimba in Aba could well determine where the trophy will rest at the end of the season.
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.