Sports
Jigawa Aims To Promote Eight Games
The Jigawa State Sports Council has concluded plans to revive eight games hitherto neglected in order to promote unity and the spirit of sportsmanship among the state’s teeming youths, an official said.
The council’s Director, Jafaru Shuaibu, disclosed this to newsmen on Monday, in Dutse.
He listed the games as volleyball, basketball, weightlifting, hockey, badminton, kokowa (local wrestling), dambe (local boxing) and langa (one-legged race).
Shuaibu pointed out that emphasis had been placed on football above other sports in the state and the country at large.
“Football is not the only game our youths can engage in to keep them busy and earn a living in. In fact, football is not the only game that can be competed for locally, nationally or internationally.
“However, in most places you find that we abandoned most of the aforementioned games, including our traditional games which are being competed for nationally and internationally.
“So, that is why our council saw the need to revive these neglected games in Jigawa,’’ he said.
To achieve this, the director said the council, in collaboration with the state’s Ministry of Information, Youth, Sports and Culture, had organised a one-day workshop.
“This was to enable us revive and develop the selected games.”
According to him, the workshop was organised for Heads of Community Development and Sports Officers of the 27 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state.
Shuaibu said the training was to enable the Heads of Departments and their respective sports officers find ways through which the selected games could be revived and developed from the grassroots.
“To this end, we’ve agreed to organise inter-local governments competition in the eight selected games in the three senatorial districts of the state,” he said.
The council director said Babura LGA in the state’s north-west was selected while Hadejia LGA in the north-east and Dutse LGA in the north-central were selected.
“LGAs will participate according to their senatorial district, and this will be like a talent-hunt where players in each of the games will be sourced for at the grassroots.
“In fact, this exercise will definitely lead to discovery of new talents, because competitions organised from the grassroots always snowball into discovery of talents.
“At the end of the exercise, it is from the list of participating youths the council will select the best and form a team for the state in each of the games.
“These teams will go on to represent the state in any competition, be it locally, nationally or internationally,’’ Shuaibu said.(NAN)
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.
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