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Tag: NSF

  • Umar Faruq Baba-Inna named as tournament director for Engineer Toke Aka Jubilee National Championship

    Umar Faruq Baba-Inna named as tournament director for Engineer Toke Aka Jubilee National Championship

    The Main Organising Committee for the Chief Engineer Toke Aka Diamond Jubilee celebration and the National Scrabble Championship has named young, talented and experienced Umar Faruq Baba-Inna as the tournament director for the Jubilee National Championship holding next month in Abuja.
    The Chairman of the Organising Committee Chukwudi Ehibudu, made this known through a WhatsApp message sent to the media on Friday.
    Baba-Inna who was recently named as member of the Local Organising Committee for the Pan Africa Youth Scrabble Championship has been very effective as an assistant tournament director at major competitions like the National Sports Festival, Asapha Zadok National Championship and the Inter Club competition.
    Umar Faruq Baba-Inna will be supported by Anthony Ikolo, Sunday Ogbo, Hakeem Olaribigbe, another member of the Pan Africa Scrabble Championship Local Organising Committee. Omotayo Osibote is also part of the technical support team of the national championship.
    Ehibudu also stated that NSF Technical Director, John Curtis will serve as the tournament director of the Special Retreat of Engineer Toke Aka Diamond Jubilee Celebration while Maxwell Kumoye the Spokesman of Nigeria Scrabble Federation is heading the Media Sub-Committee of both events.
    The Chief Engineer Toke Aka Special Scrabble Retreat comes up on the fifteenth of June at the Zalika Garden, Garki, in Abuja and it’s an all comers Retreat while the NSF President’s Diamond Jubilee National Championship has been fixed for the 17th of June at Hotel De Bently also in Abuja. The Championship has three categories, Masters, Intermediate and Veterans.
    The Technical Director of Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), John Curtis, says the one day National Championship is a 12 rounds of games event, 1 random, 8 lagged and 3 King of the hill pairings with each player having 20 minutes per game and the 2021 Collins Scrabble Words dictionary will be the reference material.
    Curtis, explained that, the Special Scrabble Retreat is an 8 rounds of games all comers event with no catchment rating points.
    To compete in the Masters event, a player must have 1,300 and above rating catchment points. The Intermediate rating catchment is 1,299 rating points and below.
    On the other hand, the Veterans event has no rating catchment requirement.
    The NSF Technical Director, stated that, the Masters event participants will pay 8,000 naira only while players wishing to battle for honours in the Intermediate and Veterans categories are expected to register with 6,000 naira each.
    We also gathered that registration for the Special Scrabble Retreat which attracts a token fee of 3,000 Naira and it opened on Monday closes on the 14th of next month and late registration will not be entertained. The registration closing date for players seeking to be part of this unique competition, the Engineer Toke Aka Jubilee National Championship is the 15th of June.
    The two-in-one event is open for sponsorship as well as donations. The chairman of the Organizing Committee, Chukwudi Ehibudu further stated that top quality hotels within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja have been selected as alternative accommodation for players coming for these events.
    The Chairman of the Organising Committee also explained that a Special Denomination Service and dinner for the Jubilee Celebration and Tournament has been fixed for the 16th of June at the Hotel De Bentley too.
    Chief Engineer Toke Aka Jubilee celebration timeline:
    ✓ Players registration for both Jubilee Retreat and Jubilee National Championship is already on
    ✓ Registration for Jubilee Retreat closes June 14th
    ✓ Jubilee Retreat holds June 15th at Zalika Garden, Garki, Abuja
    ✓ Registration for Jubilee National Championship closes June 15th
    ✓ Denomination Service and dinner holds June 16th at Hotel De Bentley, Abuja
    ✓ Jubilee National Championship – June 17th
    ✓ Departure of players and guests – June 18th
  • Scrabble player brings more honour and recognition to Nigeria

    Scrabble player brings more honour and recognition to Nigeria

    Each passing day, Nigerian scrabble players keep making waves across the globe because of their dexterity and word strength on the board and bring glory to Nigeria.
    The latest Nigerian scrabble player to demonstrate the country’s supremacy in the game of words in

    Each passing day, Nigerian scrabble players keep making waves across the globe because of their dexterity and word strength on the board and bring glory to Nigeria.
    The latest Nigerian scrabble player to demonstrate the country’s supremacy in the game of words in Lukeman Owolabi.
    At the weekend in far away Ireland, Owolabi, who is one of the arrow heads of prestigious MGI Scrabble League in Nigeria made light walk of all the players at this year’s Cork Scrabble tournament in lreland.
    He took 10 out of the 14 rounds of games in the two day competition and had a big cumulative points of plus 1492 which was miles ahead of Liam Donnelly who also recorded 10 wins and 623 cumulative points to finish second.
    Andy Goodwin, came third with a cumulative points of plus 391 with 10 victories.
    Pauline Weatherhaed and Feargal Weatherhead competes the top five on the table at the end of the Championship.
    During the just concluded Isreali International Opens Scrabble Championship in Tel Aviv, with nine countries in attendance, Nigeria’s Jack Mpakaboari and Niyi Adebayo finished in the top 8 at the end of the competition.
    Currently, eight Nigerian players are in the top 20 in the World and Nigerian players are holding two International titles.
    Eta Paul Oghenekaro won just captured the Asaph Zadok National Championship is the West African Scrabble Champion while Enoch Tochukwu Nwali is the African Champion.
    For your information, Lukeman Owolabi along with PANASA President Adekoyejo Adegbesan are writing a new chapter in the game of words in Ogun State.
    The duo, alongside other members of Ogun State Scrabble Association (OSSA) are repositioning the game in brighter light.
  • Abuja to hold first scrabble festival in March

    Abuja to hold first scrabble festival in March

    The Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), has concluded arrangements to stage the first edition of the Nigeria Scrabble Festival, next month.
    We gathered that the first edition of the Scrabble Festival scheduled to hold in the nation’s capital Abuja, will take place from the 20th to the 22th of March.
    The week long Scrabble feast will involve three different events, a National Scrabble Festival, NSF’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) and the grand finale of the 2022 NSF Inter Club Championship.
    All participants are expected to hit Abuja on the 19th of March, the National Scrabble Festival starts on the 20th and ends on 22nd. On Thursday the 23th of March, the long awaited NSF’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take centre stage.
    After the AGM, the NSF Inter Club Championship will begin on Friday, the 24th and ends on Sunday the 26th and later on Sunday, the Awards and Gala Night will rap up the week long Scrabble feast.
    The Awards and Gala Night as it’s name suggest will be used by the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), to reward and recognize players, coaches, administrators and sponsors who have distinguished themselves since the current board under the stewardship of Engineer Toke Aka, was elected and inaugurated in October 2021.
    Each of the 36 States of the Federation and FCT will be represented by six players and Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), is expecting a full house.
    The National Championship of the Scrabble Festival is a 28 rounds of games event with the winner smiling home with the bragging right of the Champion of Nigeria and a fat pay cheque.
    The grand finale of the NSF Inter Club Championship which was rescheduled due to the 21st National Sports Festival tagged Delta 2022 and the now postponed National Youth Games, will involve 12 clubs.
    The 12 finalists journey to Abuja for the grand finale started last year from the State Qualifiers to the six Zonal play-offs in Abuja, Asaba, Ibadan and Kaduna.
    The big 12 are Yola Scrabble Club, Adamawa, representing the North East Zone. The North West is represented by South Side Scrabble Club of Kaduna.
    Apex SC and Central Scrabble Club of Abuja are the touch bearers of North Central Zone. Like the the North Central Zone, South East has two teams, Enugu Scrabble Club and Safari Scrabble Club of Owerri in the grand finale.
    The power house and the cradle of the game of words in Nigeria, South West and South South will be in the capital with three formidable teams each.
    Ibadan SC, Ikorodu Scrabble Club with the adorable, Priscilla Akhabue who won gold at the National Sports Festival, in their fold and Pyramid Scrabble Club A of Lagos are heading to the Inter Club Championship grand finale as South West flag bearers while Prince Omosefe will be leading the Benin Scrabble Club to Abuja as one of the South South delegates.
    The two other clubs from the South South are Warri Scrabble Club and Yenagoa Scrabble Club that parades the likes 2022 National Sports Festival medalist, Ben Quickpen and Precious Igali.
    During the grand finale of the Inter Club Championship, the 12 teams will be divided into three groups of four teams each with the top two teams in each of the three groups going through to the next stage alongside two best third placed teams.
    The draw for the grand finale will be conducted in Abuja on a later date.
    To kick start the series of activities rolling, the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), will lunch the Inter Club Championship logo and flyer for the National Scrabble Festival.
  • Buhari hails Delta’s performance at 21st National Sports Festival

    Buhari hails Delta’s performance at 21st National Sports Festival

    President Muhammadu Buhari has said Team Delta’s clear dominance of the National Sports Festival (NSF) has further underlined the fact they are the country’s number one sports state.

    Buhari, represented by Sunday Dare, the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, at the closing ceremony of the 21st NSF, commended Team Delta’s athletes and officials for doing the state proud.

    The 2022 NSF ended at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba on Saturday with President Buhari handing the overall winners trophy to Team Delta.

    Team Delta won a total of 320 gold, 200 silver and 128 bronze medals to emerge champions of the competition, emerging winners for a third consecutive time since 2018.

    In his address at the event, Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta thanked their athletes and officials who laboured day and night to bring them the glory.

    Okowa, represented by his deputy, Kingsley Otuaro also commended the festival’s Local Organising Committee (LOC) for organising a successful event.

    “And for all the rest 35 states and the FCT which have come here to compete for honour, I thank you all for giving your best for the development of sports in our nation.

    “I know that records have been broken, and new ones have also been set. That is the spirit of the game of sports.

    “It is our belief that the experience you have garnered here at the sports festival will no doubt help lay a solid foundation for your future sports career,” Okowa said.

    Team Bayelsa emerged second at the festival, with a total of 337 medals comprising 132 gold, 115 silver and 90 bronze medals.

    Team Edo took the third position with 339 medals, comprising 78 gold, 94 silver and 167 bronze medals.

  • Asaba 2022: Coach blames medical team for Imo boxer’s death

    Asaba 2022: Coach blames medical team for Imo boxer’s death

    In aftermath of the death of Imo state boxer, Chukwuemeka Igboanugo at the ongoing National Sports Festival in Asaba Delta State on Tuesday, one of the coaches Endurance Aberegidi from Borno State has blamed medical personnel stationed at the venue for their lackadaisical approach in dealing with the situation.

    Igboanugo slumped and later gave up the ghost after receiving multiple punches to the chin and nose from Anambra’s Gaby Amagor in their 86kg category bout.

    The referee thereupon ended the fight after he failed to recover.

    “He was immediately taken out of the ring for medical treatment before being rushed to the hospital, where he was confirmed dead,” a boxing official stated.

    But Aberegidi, who was at the venue when the boxer was knocked down, told newsmen what happened in the ring on Monday and how the boxer eventually didn’t make it afterwards.

    “It was a pathetic situation. These guy trained for years and after getting a national opportunity, he then dies in the ring,” he said.

    “I was in the ring side when he fell and the medics rushed in and tried to revive him. He slightly responded and they took him to the emergency unit, then they asked for the boxer’s coach.

    “I walked up to them and they told me that the boy was not responding to treatment,” Aberegidi said.

    The coach told our correspondent how much time they wasted in looking for the Imo coach, instead of treating Igboanugo immediately.

    “They were looking for the coach for over 20 minutes as the boy was not responding to treatment. I don’t know why they wasted so much time to treat the boy. They should have focused on treating him. They said the boy didn’t allow anyone to treat him and after a short while, they came back and said he had given up the ghost,” he said.

  • Asaba 2022: Six states jostle for 2024 NSF hosting right

    Asaba 2022: Six states jostle for 2024 NSF hosting right

    As the curtains gradually draw closer on the 21st edition of the National Sports Festival tagged “Delta 2022”, six States of the Federation have so far indicated interest to be given the hosting right of the next edition which is expected to hold in 2024.
    The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare disclosed this at the Stephen Keshi Stadium Asaba, the Delta State Capital, shortly after watching the Gymnastics event between Team FCT, Delta and Ondo at the ongoing sports festival.
    Dare who was answering questions from journalists said that presently, he does not know which State is going to be the next host until the Committee which is headed by the Director, National Sports Festival & Para Sports Department of his Ministry and Secretary, Main Organising Committee (MOC), Mr Peter Nelson submits their report on the hosting right.
    He stated further that the report which will reveal the next host is likely to be submitted on Friday, December 9, 2022; which is the eve of the closing ceremony for this Festival.
    Dare who informed that there is a process to be followed before picking any hosting State, explained that “by that day my Director, Peter Nelson will present to me the State that will host. But until then, I won’t be able to disclose it to you. The Committee is working on evaluation and scoring before any decision can be taken on the hosting right”, he said.
    The Minister assured that the process will ensure that States that will come second and third respectively will get prepared to avoid what happened in the past that saw Cross River State unable to host the event for more than six years.
     “When we held Edo 2020, Edo set a standard. It is a change of baton. Now that we are holding Delta 2022, they knew they had to either give the same standard as Edo or do better.
    So we signposted that any State that will host must be ready. After Edo State, we set up a Committee to review the MOU. So before any State engages, there are clear terms and processes and once you sign it, you must abide by it, that is very important, but this time around, we will announce the winner-State and then keep the runners-up close to our chest”, the Minister emphasized.
    “We knew then that if Delta would not make it, Abuja was ready. At this point, there are six States that are jostling and the interest is increasing. There is a timeline. We know when a State is not ready and if that happens, we will just switch over to the runner-up, ” he added.
    Dare who expressed his love for Gymnastics said, “I am supposed to be the father of all sports but the fact that I am here, shows my love for Gymnastics. As a Minister, I always visit the Gymnastics Hall at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja. Most of the Gymnasts were very tiny then and I always followed them up. You can see the number of States participating now. When you go to the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, you see the followership. I love Gymnastics,” he stressed.
  • Our investments in sports yielding positive results – Kwara Govt

    Our investments in sports yielding positive results – Kwara Govt

    Kwara’s investments in sports sector are yielding positive results given the sterling performance of our athletes at the just concluded National Sports Festival (NSF) in Edo, a top government official has said.

    The Special Adviser to Kwara Governor on Sports and Youths Development, Attahiru Ibrahim, said this in a statement in Ilorin, on Sunday.

    “The administration’s decision to resuscitate the Kwara State Sports Festival 15 years after, has been justified with the improved outing of the state’s contingent to Edo 2020, as Kwara ended the campaign as the 15th on the medals table,” he said.

    He said the resuscitated sports festival played a significant role, as stakeholders in the sports sector used the festival to unearth more talents.

    “Kwara came 15th on the medals table at Edo 2020, having garnered seven gold, six silver and 31 bronze medals, totalling 44 medals. This is a great leap.

    “In Abuja 2018, Kwara came a distant 23rd on the medals’ table of the NSF. During the festival, Kwara had only one gold medal, six silver and five bronze medals, totalling 12 medals,” the special adviser said.

    Ibrahim commended Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for the feat which, he said, represented a significant improvement in Kwara’s standing in sports nationwide.

    He also commended the athletes and officials for conducting themselves in a manner which represented Kwara’s values of good conduct and sticking to the rules of the games.

    The special adviser assured the athletes that the present administration would continue to honour, recognise and reward those who brought laurels to the state.

  • NSF: Gunmen attack team Nasarawa returning from Edo, one feared dead

    NSF: Gunmen attack team Nasarawa returning from Edo, one feared dead

    Contingents of Team Nasarawa were ttacked by gunmen, on their way back from the recently concluded 20th National Sports Festival held in Benin City, Edo State.

    According to a statement by the spokesman of the Nasarawa State Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Eche Amos, the armed robbers accosted the team at Akeleku village, some two kilometres after Kadarko town, along Makurdi-Lafia express road.

    The 56-seater Team bus had rammed into the robbers who were already carrying out their nefarious act on other commuters on the highway on Thursday night, 15th April 2021.

    The heavily armed robbers who appeared in military camouflage uniform had asked the Team Nasarawa bus driver and other occupants to descend from their vehicle as they got positioned to unleash mayhem.

    But unknown to the men of the underworld, one of the escort officers attached to the Team Nasarawa contingent immediately opened fire, killing one of the gang members on the spot.

    As the Team Nasarawa bus was escaping the operation scene, some of the hoodlums who were hiding inside the bush returned multiple gunfires, bursting the tyres and shattering the radiator of the bus, which led to the occupants of the vehicle, the majority of whom were athletes and coaches, scampering for safety.

    More security reinforcements were immediately called and the ugly situation which lasted for over four hours was brought under control, as the entire Team Nasarawa contingent members were re-united unharmed and returned safely to their destination in Lafia, the State’s capital, in the early hours of Friday, 16th April, 2021, contrary to some social media reports that some members of the returning Team were injured and missing.

    Team Nasarawa attended the biennial sports fiesta with a 210-member contingent, and featured in twenty-five(25) events, winning a total of twenty-two(22) medals at the Edo 2020 National Sports Festival, with five Gold, four Silver and thirteen Bronze medals, to finish 18th on the medal table after fourteen days of sporting hostilities that saw Team Delta emerging overall best.

  • 20th NSF: Bayelsa’s Gagbe emerges most outstanding athlete

    20th NSF: Bayelsa’s Gagbe emerges most outstanding athlete

    Ifiezegbe Gagbe of Bayelsa State has emerged the most decorated athlete of the 20th edition of the National Sports Festival (NSF) in Edo after winning 15 medals in the swimming event.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Gagbe won eight gold, two silver and five bronze medals in the aquatic events.

    Aside the laurels won, the swimmer, who also had no fewer than 10 silver medals to her name at the last games held in Abuja in 2018, broke six records in the swimming event in Edo 2020.

    She created new records in 100m Freestyle, 400m individual medley, 1500m freestyle, 200m freestyle and the 400m freestyle.

    The Bayelsa swimmer returned a time of 1:01.54 in the 100m freestyle for women, against the festival record of 1:02.66 that was set in 2012.

    Gagbe also erased the festival record of 5:47.95 in the 400m individual medley set in 2006 by returning a time of 5:46.95.

    Similarly, she beat the record of 21:05.10 set in 2018 by finishing the 1500m freestyle women in a new record of 21:04.92.

    Gagbe also created new records of 2:17.05 against 2018 record of 2:20.28 and 5:04.30 against 2012 record of 5:09.71 in the 200m and 400m freestyles for women respectively.

    NAN reports that the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is expected to declare the games closed on Wednesday.

    It will be recalled that the 20th NSF, which had suffered several postponements, finally got underway on April 2 while the official opening ceremony for the nation’s biggest sporting fiesta took placed on April 6.

  • See two states missing on NSF medals table

    See two states missing on NSF medals table

    Jigawa and Taraba are yet to register their name on the medals table of the ongoing 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) in Benin as at Monday evening.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the 20th NSF, which commenced on April 2 and will end on Wednesday, have seen a total of 1,308 medals.

    The medals were won by teams from 34 of the participating states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The breakdown of the medals table shows that this consists of a total of 386 gold, 383 silver and 539 bronze medals

    TNG reports that Delta still maintain the lead on the table, a position they have been occupying since the beginning of the country’s biggest sports fiesta with 257 medals.

    This consists of 103 gold, 82 silver and 72 bronze medals.

    They are followed by hosts Edo who have a total of 241 medals, comprising of 88 gold, 80 silver and 73 bronze.

    Edo are followed by Bayelsa at a distant third with 41 gold, 40 silver and 43 bronze medals which summed up to a total of 124 medals.

    Rivers and Lagos are fourth and fifth on the medals table with 24 gold, 24 silver and 39 bronze as well as 19 gold, 23 silver and 39 bronze medals respectively.

    TNG reports that at the bottom of the table are Sokoto state, Benue and Kebbi who have won just three, two and two bronze medals respectively.

    The last two states on the table are Taraba and Jigawa with no medal at the festival which is expected to end on Wednesday.