Sports
Adamawa Sponsors 120-Man Contingent To N’East
Technical Adviser, Adamawa, Sports Council, Esther Dominic, says the state sponsored a 120-man contingent to the North-East Zonal U-17 Sports Festival in Bauchi.
Dominic, who made the disclosure in Bauchi as the games got underway at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, said the contingent comprised of athletes, coaches and other officials.
Dominic described the tournament as a veritable tool for selecting talents that would represent either the state or the country at various sports meet in the future.
She also disclosed that some members of the contingent were selected from the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the state.
“We have sports facilities in all IDPs camps and other centers in the state and with the return of peace, some IDPs camps became our catchment centers.
“We went out there and identified talents and brought them and placed them in either open or closed camps and today we are here in Bauchi,” she said.
She commended Governor Muhammadu Bindou of Bauchi for his financial support in spite of the lean finances of the state.
Some of the athletes, who spoke to newsmen of Nigeria commended the state government for making sports a priority in spite of the scarce resources.
The athletes promised that they would be disciplined and represent Adamawa well and called for prayers from individuals to enable them to excel.
Tidesports source gathered that Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi, Taraba and Yobe states are participating in the two-day Games, while Borno did not feature due to lack of finance according to officials.
Adamawa will feature in basketball, handball, hockey and volleyball, while Yobe will feature in handball and hockey.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.