Sports
Ife Igbo Awka Peace Football Competition Kicks Off In Anambra
The maiden Ife Igbo Awka Peace Foothball Competition in Anambra State has kicked off as Team Umudioka beat Team ACTDA 5-1 in the opening football match competition at the Awka Township Stadium.
Rt Hon. Somtochukwu Udeze, Speaker, Anambra State House of Assembly, kicked off the tournament, scheduled to end on January 2, 2024.
Ife Igbo Awka Peace football competition tagged ‘Say No To Cultism’ is organised by Ossy Onuko, Managing Director of Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA) in partnership with Jezco Oil Limited to foster unity and engender peace among villages in Awka.
Speaking to journalists, Udeze said the competition was timely and aligned with the ‘Solution Agenda’ of the Prof. Chukwuma Soludo’s administration.
The Speaker said he was pleased with the initiative of Onuko who engaged youths of Awka positively through sports.
”All that we are asking from the youth is to eschew violence and embrace peace.
“Football is the only game that brings all the tribes together; I believe this competition will bring more peace in Anambra State,” he said.
Also speaking, Chief Ifeatu Obiokoye, Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra, said peace was crucial to the development of the society.
Obiokoye said Anambra was enjoying relative peace and that he was impressed with the number of youths that would take part in the six weeks long football fiesta.
“This is commendable, no fewer than 500 youths will be part of it and you know what that means, a lot of them will be pulled out from the streets. So we encourage more of this.
“This is a great innovation in the right direction, this is good for conviviality, bonding and removing distraction among youths, it will definitely reduce crime,” he said.
Patrick-Estate Onyedum, Chairman of Anambra State Sports Development Commission, who watched the opening game, rated the standard as high.
Onyedum said the government was encouraging more individuals and the private sector to join in providing opportunities for talented youths in Anambra to compete.
On his part, Onuko said the competition involving 22 teams was a campaign against cultism and vices among youths.
The ACTDA Managing Director said the winners of the competition would go home with prize money of N1 million, N500,000 and N300,000 for first, second and third place respectively.
He thanked the sponsors, Jezco Oil Limited for keying into the vision and urged players to abide by the rules.
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.