Sports
CON award: Sports ministry applauds Sunday Dare
The Management and Staff of the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development have sent a message of felicitations and congratulations to the former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Mr. Sunday Dare on his conferment as Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) by former President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR on May 28, 2023.
This the Ministry said is also in recognition of the various policy initiatives he introduced in both sports and youth sectors as well as the work he carried out for the development of sports in Nigeria and the African region by extension.
Director of Press and Public Relations Muhammed Manga in a statement issued in Qbuja on Thursday said his four years of service to Nigeria as the Minister of Sports and Youth Development recorded tremendous achievements, especially in the sports industry, unequalled in recent times.
“The Ministry unequivocally
affirmed that the conferment of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) by the former administration is a testimony to Dare’s indelible mark of hard work and diligence which led to the transformation of both the Sports and Youth sectors, areas that were almost forgotten, over the years.
“It also wants to state clearly here for record purposes, the various programmes, policies and initiatives his tenure as Minister put in place in the Ministry that impacted positively on the youth like DEEL (Digital Skills, Enterpreneurship, Employability and Leadership) through which the Youths were trained on various skills like Cybersecurity, Web Development, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Digital Photography and Coding.
“Others, include securing the approval of the N75bn Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), the Presidential Youth Empowerment Scheme (P-YES), National Young Farmers Scheme (NYFS) as well as other supportive ventures aimed at empowering the youth of our country.
In the field of sports, the former Minister also introduced various initiatives leading to numerous podium performances by our athletes at global competitions.
Some of these include: the Adopt initiative, National Sports Industry Policy, the 10 Year Football Development Masterplan, the Talent Hunt Program, the return of the long and middle distance races, and cross country race in Nigeria after almost 40 years in the doldrums.
As a result of the enabling environment created by the past Administration, Dare was also able to embark on the rehabilitation of sporting facilities across the country and other efforts, thus brightening sports outlook in Nigeria
The Ministry wishes to state further that under Dare’s leadership, Nigeria posted her best ever Commonwealth Games performance in August 2022 and produced her first ever World Record holder and World champion (in athletics) in Tobi Amusan.
You would also recall that Nigeria had her best Olympic Games performance in 13 years with 2 Medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
It will be pertinent to mention here that in recognition of his stellar performances since assumption of office, the former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Mr. Sunday Dare bagged various awards including the Award of Excellence in Public Service, an award given to him by the former President, Muhammadu Buhari.
Others are the National Telegraph Most Innovative Minister Award, the Blueprint Sports Icon of the Year Award, Youth Award in the United States of America, African Illustrious Minister of the Year Award, the National Youth Council of Nigeria Leaders Role Model Award (NYCN).
The Ministry noted that Dare’s desire and passion for Sports development across the country will forever stand the test of time.
“Thus, the Management and Staff of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Development once again felicitates with its former Minister on the Conferment of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) by the former President, Muhammadu Buhari GCFR. It is, indeed, a well-deserved honour.
“We are optimistic that the award will spur him into doing more for his fatherland anytime he is called upon to serve.
Sports
TRS Promotions announces 2024 Ludo Competition with N1m Grand Prize
TRS Promotions has announced the 2024 edition of the ‘Ludo Competition For All’, billed to take place on Saturday, December 14th, 2024, at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos State.
A statement by the media handlers which was released on Monday indicated that the competition is bringing together Ludo enthusiasts from across the country in to compete for their share of the ₦2,250,000 prize pool.
The statement explajned that the competition’s grand prize has been fixed at ₦1,000,000, with ₦750,000 for the second-place winner, and ₦500,000 for third place.
Explaining further it stated that the Preliminary rounds will take place from November 1st to 30th across various Local Governments in Lagos, and registration is already open with a fee of ₦1,000.
The statement encouraged Players and supporters to register early and follow updates via the social media handle @WINDRAUGHTGAME.
TRS Promotions also called on corporate organizations, private individuals, and the government to support the event through sponsorship, ensuring the competition’s success.
For more details, participants can visit windraughtgame.com or contact info@windraughtgame.com.
Sports
DC Haniel Hadison emerges the winner of Veteran’s final in Squash Tourney at Lagos Country Club
The Squash Section, Lagos Country Club over the weekend, held its 18th Annual Merchant Express Global Cargo and Turkish Cargo Airlines Closed, Open Invitational and 4th PSA Squash Tournament where winners emerged in various categories.
The tournament, spreading accross a period of two weeks, saw players from over fourteen Squash playing Clubs accross the country competing in different categories; Men, Veteran and, for the first time, the Super-Veteran category for players above the age of 60.
In the Super-Veteran category, Telema Princewill of the Port Harcourt Squash Club won with Dr. Kayode Roberts of the Ikoyi Club, Squash Section became the runner-up.
The Veteran’s final, which became the most engaging game during the finals saw DC Haniel Hadison of Lagos Country Club defeating Clement Efakpokire of Ikoyi Club, while the Men’s final had Bunmi Apata retaining the cup as the winner both in the last year’s edition and the just concluded edition, defeating Shittu Adeola of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife Squash Club.
The 4th PSA category which had over 80 professional Squash players from across the Country participating in the tournament both male and female had Nigeria’s current Number One Squash player, Gabriel Olufunmilayo winning the Trophy while former number one, Onaopemipo Adegoke was defeated. Busayo Olatunji won in the female category by defeating Nigeria’s number one, Rofiat Abdulazeez. Apart from the cash prizes won, the PSA Tournament also increases the global ratings of participating professional players.
In his remark, the Chairman/Managing Director of Merchant Express Cargo Services, Captain Shina Akinfenwa commended the high spirit of Sportsmanship amongst the playing members and noted improvement on the standard of the game over the years. He looks foward to raising the bar in subsequent tournaments.
Sir ‘Semoore Badejo, the Chairman of Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, expressed satisfaction on the massive turnout for the event and members’ obvious enthusiasm towards the game of Squash. He thanked the Sponsors, Merchant Express Global Cargo and Turkish Cargo Airlines for supporting the growth of the game of Squash being the 19th year the organization has been sponsoring this event. He noted the inclusion of the additional Category, expressly supported by the Sponsors; the Super-Veteran category, which encouraged more participation from the Squash community all over the country. He thanked the Sponsors and promised a better tournament next year.
Sports
Philip Shuaib to feature as “Guest Player’ for NUJ Team in football tournament
The Former Edo State Deputy Governor, comrade Philip Shuaibu has expressed his readiness to play as ‘Guest player” for the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) football team (Team Correspondents) in the 2nd Edition of the NUJ FCT Correspondents Chapel Football Tournament.
The 3-Day tournament with the theme: ‘Football for Friendship and Peace ‘ is scheduled to kick off on Thursday July 11th by 10:00am at Area10 football field by Old Parade Ground Abuja.
The NUJ team would be facing the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) at the group and knockout stage while the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) would engage the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).
Also the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) would be taking on the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) while AIBEN would be slugging it out with the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) would tackle Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS) and Nigeria Police Force(NPF) will engage Federal High Court (FHC).
Shuaibu disclosed this on Wednesday when he received a delegation led by the Chairman of FCT Correspondents Chapel, Mr. Jide Oyekunle who paid him a visit to formally present him with his jersey and kits in Abuja ahead of the encounter.
He said God has used journalists to save his life and he is ready to sacrifice his last energy to support and identify with any programme organized by journalists in the country.
He described the football tournament
initiative by the Oyekunle’s led executive as laudable and outstanding just as he called on the government, organizations and well meaning Nigerians to support the initiative to achieve its purpose.
The tournament which is aimed at promoting and strengthening the relationships between the media and participating organizations would feature twelve (12) teams drawn from the government organizations, security agencies and professional bodies
The ex-Deputy Governor said he is battle ready for the game just as he promised to lead the NUJ team ’ to victory.
According to Shuaibu “For me, anything for journalists I am there even when I am weak. If I have small energy and journalists call and say we need you I can use that last energy to be part of their programme.
“As I always say, God use them to keep me alive and God is still using them. I see myself as one of you. I want to commend you for this noble idea and initiative and I call on well meaning Nigerians and corporate organizations to support gestures like this.
“Anywhere there are no journalists, that place is dead and would never be recognised. Journalism profession is life and anywhere there are no journalists there is no life.
“He also narrated how he helped the wife of the Governor, Besty Obaseki to organise pre- season football tournament tittled “Education For Girl Child ‘ using ‘Gloria’ one of Edo Queen as face and Ambassador of the tournament as role model for young ones.
He said his passion for football was borne out of the fact that it has the power to bond people together and unite the world irrespective of the religion, ethnic and political affiliation.
The NUJ Chairman, Jide Oyekunle on his part said the gesture by the Deputy Governor to participate in the tournament would be an icing on the cake, just as he conferred the captain title of the team on him.
He said, his presence would further boost the morale of the players and keep them in high spirits.
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