Sports
Philanthropist Tasks Sports Authorities On Local Talents Dev
Sports authorities in Rivers State have been called upon to see the need and effectively work towards developing local talents and uplifting grassroots sports.
Sports philanthropist and retired staff of the state Sports Council, Mr Paul Dum Wifa made the call while speaking with sports writers in Bori.
According to him, the state should hunt for local talent as a way of injecting fresh blood into the system and ensure of sports in the state.
He continued that, while in the service of the sports council, several efforts were made to recruit young and talented youths in the state. He noted that before the creation of Bayelsa State, Old Rivers State had comparative advantage in the area of swimming, weightlifting, karate, Judo and athletics but regretted that, the reverse seems the case now
Mr. Wifa, who retired from the state sports council in 2004, maintained that Adoni, Opobo/Nkoro and Kalabari’s have abundant potentials in swimming, karate, weightlifting and judo, while their Khana, Gokana, Ahoada and other upland local government were blessed with young sprinters that could do the state proud in any competition.
He attributed most of the problems be drilling our society today to idleness on the part of the youths advising the local governments in the state to invest in sports as a means of empowerment to the Rivers people.
He emphasized that, experts who may have retired from active service should be co-opted into sports development to bring, their wealth of experience to bear in the drive towards achieving the objective of putting the state on top in sports.
Lamenting on the state of infrastructural development, Wifa said that mini stadia and other sporting facilities should be provided and spread across the state and not concentrated only in Port Harcourt , this, according to him, could discourage those in the rural areas.
On the forth coming National Sports Festival tagged, “Garden City, Games 2010” Wifa called on the state contingent to go all out to do the state proud in order to justify the huge financial and moral commitment of the state Governor, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi, Amaechi in hosting the event and appealed to Rivers people to pray for them.
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.