Sports
Ex-Sharks Captain, Odinga Inducted Into Class Of 94
Ex captain of Sharks FC of Port Harcourt, Odinga Odinga has been inducted into the Class of ’94 Hall of Fame of Comprehensive High School, Alesa Eleme, Rivers State.
The WAFU champion was honoured for his excellent service and outstanding attainment in football as sport ambassador by the foremost school during their first reunion after 29 years.
According to the President of the association, Hon. Solsuema Osaro, the formidable right-back during his playing days, was unanimously honoured as a sport ambassador, among seven others at the reunion ceremony.
Osaro noted that the association is proud of the exploits of the Ex Sharks skipper cum football administrator adding that the award will spur him to do more.
He said: “We had our first ever reunion after 29 years and in the course of doing that we decided to honour some of our outstanding colleagues who have made tremendous heights in their various careers and pursuits in life.
“Within 29 years, Coach Odinga Odinga is one of us who started playing football right from primary and secondary school and have gotten to the height he has reached today in football.
“The class unanimously honoured him as a sport ambassador in the Hall of Fame. He was given a Primus Interperse Honours in honour of his excellent service and outstanding achievements in football, sports as an ambassador.
“By this honour, he is inducted into the CHS Alesa Elemel ’94 Hall of Fame. We can recall that after playing through the secondary school team, winning medals for the school, he proceeded to play professional football with Sharks FC and became their captain and Rivers United.
“While in Sharks, he won the WAFU Championship after so many years. He was also the chairman of all clubs captains in Nigeria. These attainable heights are worth been appreciated and that is what informed why the class of 94 honoured him among seven of them. We are proud of Odinga Odinga as a great football administrator.”
While expressing his deepest gratitude to the CHS Class of ’94 for bestowing such great honour, Odinga pledged to give back to the society in the nearest future.
Odinga said: “I’m very happy and for my classmates to award me. I think this is the greatest award I have received. I’m very happy and proud of them believing in the nearest future I will give back to the society because of this award.”
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.