Sports
Kings, Queens Colleges To Host Achimota In Friendlies
All is now set for the first ever co-hosting of the bilateral secondary school games between Nigeria and Ghana scheduled to hold between July 10 and July 14 in Lagos.
Principals of the host institutions, Mr Dele Olapeju of Kings College and Mrs Modupe Ladipo, of Queens College both in Lagos, disclosed this to the newsmen in a joint interview in Lagos.
They said that the schools would be hosting the Achimota College, Accra Ghana, a co-educational school in the week-long competition.
They said that this year’s event would be the best as new dimensions would be introduced to the games.
The principals noted that the schools would engage their Ghanaian counterpart in games such as female football, chess and scrabble.
“Before now, Kings College usually takes on the Achimota boys, a foremost college in Ghana in traditional sports such as football, hockey and cricket.
“But now, Achimota is requesting that their girls should also engage Queens College, a sister institution to Kings College on other games to add more colour and fun to the competition.
“We on our part have concluded arrangements in terms of logistics to ensure the event comes out well,” Ladipo said.
Also speaking, Olapeju noted that the games would further strengthen the existing relationship among the schools, adding that education was not all about going to school and receiving lessons.
“Adventure is part of education. When children move out and meet their counterparts from other countries and engage them in friendly games, all stereotypes are reduced and the aims of ECOWAS achieved.
“What we are doing is to sustain the fraternities that bind us together as African countries and foster unity among the ECOWAS states in the region.
“Already, we are trying to reach out to some old boys from different countries on the need to have one heritage school in their respective countries engaged in this kind of games as this would relive old memories.
“We are aware that there are foremost colleges in various countries around the west coast and such colleges are expected to participate in this kind of friendly games,” Olapeju added.
According to him, such games could create platforms that could snowball into something positive in the future, in the area of national development.
The Kings College principal explained that the week-long competition, would among other things, showcase some calisthenics by girls from Queens College.
“We shall be witnessing a display of calisthenics during the games, a performance which Queens College is well known for.
“I can assure everyone that the game is gradually gaining the desired recognition within and outside the country,” Olapeju said.
The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria ( SWAN) Rivers State Chapter has set up five standing working committees on Tuesday, in its general congress.
At the playoff held at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, the team of Canice Abua, Michael Emmanuel, Daniel Adeleye, and Abubakar Yusuf was majestic as they restored Nigeria’s hope in a sport that once gave the country so much joy.
Speaking after the final game, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) President, Victor Ochei, said the Davis Cup feat is the stepping stone to better days in the sport, adding that the federation has set up programmes that will help the budding talents across the country play at the same level as their counterparts in other tennis-developed countries.
Ochei said: “The whole aim of having this new board is to lift the sport to the level we used to be. I tell you, tennis is taking a new shape in Nigeria. We are putting everything and anything to make that work happen.”
Ochei said that the NTF has looked at sponsorships and how to get the emerging players compete at the same level with their peers elsewhere, adding that the federation is working on organising local competitions and helping the players to compete in international championships.
“We believe that with what we are doing now, sponsors will come to us to organise new competitions. But beyond that, there’s a strategic growth development plan, a 10-year development plan, which the board is working on.
“The programme will ensure that we catch them young. This is because we believe that to create champions, we must start grooming them early. The champions you are seeing today were those groomed yesterday.”
“The process of building new champions will include building the coaches, the players, the infrastructure and sensitising the parents so that we can start catching them as young as age five to six.
“By the time that we groom them through 10 years of training, at age 15, 16, you will see fantastic professional players.”
To achieve the federation’s plans, Ochei admits that the NTF needs a lot of investment, adding that the board is working at realising the funds quietly and tenaciously.
The NTF president acknowledged the contributions of former international stars like Nduka Odizor and Sadiq Abdullahi to the bid to rejuvenate Nigerian tennis, adding that NTF is open to collaborating with former players who know what it takes to play at the highest level of the sport.
He said, “Nduka Odizor is around as one of our VIP personalities. He has been psyching up the boys in the battle with Uzbekistan. He will not enter the court to play, but his mere presence is enough motivation to the boys, who will want to be like him in the future.
“You see, the type of support the Odizors, the Imonities and the Abdullahis got in their time is no longer there, but we are revamping it with the support of our stakeholders in the Diaspora.
“It will appear to take us some time, but I can tell you that the Diaspora support is massive.”
In its bid to get good results in this year’s Commonwealth Games, the National Sports Commission (NSC) has disbursed N200 million as training grants to 26 athletes.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow, Scotland.
The NSC stated that the grants were disbursed through its Elite and Podium Board, noting that N200 million was allocated to select top-performing athletes.
The beneficiaries are both foreign-based and home-based, the NSC said, adding that it will cater for their training and preparation expenses.
According to the NSC, the recipients span several sports, including athletics, wrestling, weightlifting, and para-sports, in line with the Commission’s mandate to prioritise athletes’ welfare and high-performance development.
The Commission added that the disbursement follows the establishment of the Elite and Podium Board, created to implement a scientific and institutionalised support system aimed at sustaining peak performances by Nigerian athletes at major international competitions.
NSC Director General, Bukola Olopade, said the Commission, under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was established to restore confidence and provide renewed hope for Nigerian sportsmen and women by placing strong emphasis on athlete welfare.
“The training grants disbursed to 26 athletes across different sports followed a careful and professional selection process by the Yusuf Ali-led Elite and Podium Board. This is our way of reassuring our athletes that their welfare remains our utmost priority,” he said.
-
Politics3 days agoAPC Releases Adjusted Timetable For Nationwide Congresses, Convention
-
Business2 days agoCustoms Seek Support To Curb Smuggling In Ogun
-
Sports2 days ago
DG NIS Wants NSC Board Constituted, Seeks Increased In Funding
-
Sports2 days agoSWAN Rivers Set-up Five Functional Committees
-
News2 days ago
Police Bust Kidnapping Syndicate In PH
-
Sports2 days ago
NSC Disburses N200m Training Grants To 26 Athletes
-
Sports2 days ago
‘NTF Will Build On Davis Cup Success For Brighter Future’
-
Featured2 days agoINEC Proposes N873.78bn For 2027 Elections, N171bn For 2026 Operations