Sports
Sports Minister Inspects Moshood Abiola National Stadium
The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh undertook an inspection tour of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Wednesday, to assess the state of facilities in the edifice.
The minister, alongside the ministry’s permanent secretary, Alhaji Ismaila Abubakar, was led by Director of Facilities and Stadium Management at the Federal Ministry of Sports Development, Engr. Alanamu Abolore, as he inspected all packages of the stadium.
Enoh visited the mainbowl of the stadium, the Velodrome, facility building, athletes’ hostel, Federation and Elite Athletes Department (FEAD), Power Technical Building, as well as other facilities in the edifice.
In his address, the minister stated “we embarked on this tour because whatever one wants to do, we have to do it from a standpoint of knowledge, and that is what I am doing.
“Facilities and infrastructures are a key component of sports, as they are variables that drive both elite performance and grassroots development,” Enoh added.
“It is therefore very important that we get it right. We must maintain the current infrastructures that we have, and look towards making them better, to match what we have across the world.”
The minister stated that the Moshood Abiola National Stadium has the capacity to become one of the best multi-purpose stadium complexes in Africa, as he promised to give required attention to infrastructural development.
“Amidst the so much that I have seen here, the positives and the negatives, this stadium is a very definitive national monument. There is about nothing that you will find elsewhere, that you cannot find here,” he said. “However from 2003 till date, the facility has gone through a lot. The ministry under my leadership will do all that it can, to get every part of the stadium functional, including the athletes hostel, because athletes must have the best, to be the best”
John Enoh also added that he would visit other facilities across the country, to assess their state and take definitive actions on their development.
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.
