‘Bayelsa, Now Hub Of Sports’

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has assured that the State Government will give scrabble the pride of place it deserves, saying the State was now the hub of sports in Nigeria.
He made the pledge on Sunday at the grand finale of the season four-2024 edition of the annual Governor Diri’s national scrabble classics which held in Yenagoa, State capital.
The Governor represented by the State Director of Sports in the Ministry of Sports, Mr. Braveman Wodi, said his administration will do more to develop scrabble and other sports.
He stressed that youths were crucial to the development of any society and that they will continue to be positively engaged through sports, while also thanking participants at this year’s edition, assuring that season five will be bigger and better.
“We’ve had a good time but whatever has a beginning must have an end. As a government, we want to assure you that scrabble will be given the pride of place it deserves. Youths are crucial to the development of any society. That is why we are engaging them through sports”, he said.
Also, President of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), Chief Olobatoke Aka, who congratulated Governor Diri on his victory at the Supreme Court, commended him for his developmental strides, saying Bayelsa was making tremendous progress under him, just as he expressed appreciation to the governor for sponsoring the championship in the last four years, saying the scrabble family in Nigeria will remain grateful to him.
The NSF boss advocated the inclusion of scrabble in the curriculum of schools in Nigeria, saying it will not only improve the spelling ability of students but, will also help professional scrabble players earn money.
In his remarks, chairman of the Bayelsa State Scrabble Association and Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, said this edition was special as it had more participants with increased prize money and it came at a time the state was celebrating the Supreme Court victory of the governor.