Sports
Rivers Utd On Verge Of History, Get Eumsell Praises
Rivers United FC of PortHarcourt is on the verge of making history in the Nigerian Professional Football league (NPFL).
The club took a giant leap penultimate Sunday towards landing its first NPFL title with a 2-1 win over visiting Abia Warriors. It would be its first since Sharks FC and Dolphins FC merged in 2016 to form the new club.
Rivers United is party sponsored by Eunisell Limited, specialty chemicals, oil and gas production engineering solutions company in West Africa for the past seven years.
With four games left to play in the 2021/2022 NPFL season, the Stanley Eguma-led side currently tops the table with 71 points and are a massive 10 points ahead of the closest challenger, Plateau United of Jos.
The club’s next game will be played away against Nassarawa United on Sunday, June 26, in Lafia. Winning the game will be just enough to lift the trophy.
In July, the Port Harcourt-based outfit will host relegation-haunted Kano Pillars on the 3rd and visit Shooting Stars of Ibadan on the 10th. Its final game of the season will be against a vibrant Gombe United on Sunday, July 17 at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt.
Meanwhile, the Pride of Rivers strikers, Chijoke Akuneto and Ishaq Kayode are high goal scorers in the league and contenders for the prestigious Eunisell Boot Award with 16 and 14 goals each. They are rivaled by Victor Mbaoma and Yusuf Abdulazeez of Enyimba and Gombe United FC respectively with 15 goals apiece.
Since 2018, Eunisell has offered a N200, 000 premium per goal to the highest scorer at the end of each season in NPFL.
Junior Lokosa, the highest scorer with 19 goals in the 2017/2018 NPFL season, won the inaugural edition and was presented with N3.8million and a glittering trophy.
Eunisell Managing Director, Chika Ikenga, urged the team to stay focused and cross the finishing line with glamour, noting that it has developed consistently.
He said, “We are excited that Rivers United has come thus far in the quest to win the league and go for the continentals. We encourage the team to stay on course and cross the finishing line. Starting strong is good but finishing strong is epic.
“If you followed the league in the last two seasons, you will notice that Rivers United have been consistent, finishing in the first two positions. Now I believe with the performance so far, they can win it.
‘Interestingly, Eunisell’s involvement with Rivers United in the past seven years has coincided with the club’s improved performance in recent campaigns in the NPFL,’ stated Ikenga.
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.