Sports
T/Tennis Player Seeks Financial Support For Athletes
A Portugal-based Nigerian table tennis player, Offiong Edem, last Monday urged sports authorities and corporate organisations in Nigeria to provide financial support to athletes participating in major international competitions.
Edem, an Olympian, made the plea in an interview with newsmen in Lagos against the backdrop of some athletes’ inability to sponsor themselves to competitions.
Tidesports source reports that Edem, an indigene of Cross River, ruled the Nigerian table tennis women’s singles for 14 years and has been an African champion for six years.
Edem, who featured in the 2004 and 2012 Olympics, has an astonishing five gold medals in All Africa Games and a silver under her belt.
She had reached the quarter-finals of the Commonwealth Games.
Edem urged sports authorities to make adequate arrangement for all the athletes participating in the national assignments.
“The attitude of our sports authorities to the athletes, especially when it comes to travelling arrangements, was not encouraging.
“Every budget approved by the sports ministry for the athletes’ participation in international competitions must be backed up with immediate release of fund to motivate them.
“Nigeria is a force to reckon with in the continental and intercontinental competitions, even spectators look out for us; therefore, our government must improve on this issue of funding.
“Some foreign-based athletes can afford to sponsor themselves to international tournaments, which may not be convenient for national athletes that rely on the government,’’ she said.
The Olympian also called on table tennis fans to contribute their quotas to the building of upcoming players who could not afford the basic training materials.
Edem said that she took advantage of her off-season from her club to visit Nigeria and to train with the budding players so as to encourage them and donate equipment to support their careers.
“I always prepare myself to put smiles on the faces of our upcoming players. The kits I distributed to them may be small, but the gesture goes a long way.
“Some young players come to the stadium to train without kits; among them are the players who will replace the ageing ones in the nearest future.
“So, we need to help them in our little way by making bats, balls, jersey and canvass shoes available in the designated centres, where they can access them for their,’’ she 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.