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BCC Lions’ return, stadium facelift in focus as Edeh leads new Benue FA Board to Tor Tiv 

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With barely two weeks to the emergence of the current Benue State Football Association (BSFA), hope for the return of one of the then prestigious football clubs in Nigeria, BCC Lions, is gradually rising by the day.

This is after what appeared as a major push to actualise the club’s comeback was triggered when the new BSFA Chairman, Barr. Paul Edeh, led the board and other stakeholders on a courtesy visit to the Paramount Ruler of Tiv Nation, His Royal Majesty, Prof. James Ayatse, at his magnificent palace in Gboko, Benue state.

The visit was the first official engagement of the new FA board, 12 days after its election and swearing-in as well as inaugural meeting.

Barr. Edeh who had never hidden his passion towards championing development of football at the grassroots vis-a-vis restoration of the glory days of the round-leather game, re-echoed that part of his efforts will be devoted to the return of past soccer monuments in the state, of which BCC Lions, a former continental club champion, played huge part to entrench.

While at the revered first class traditional ruler’s palace, Barr. Edeh also revealed that reinstituting J.S Tarka stadium, being the home ground for BCC Lions established in 1982, was top on the FA board’s desire.

He also appealed to the Monarch popularly referred to as Tor Tiv to endorse the return of an annual grassroots football competition christened “Tor Tiv Unity and Peace Cup” in his honour.

“Gboko is the true hub of football in Benue state because of its antecedent in producing talented footballers and age-long successful records. There was a time the state paraded up to six players in the Super Eagles, those were the days when a club like BCC Lions made tremendous impact not only in Benue, but the entire country, but that’s no longer the case. 

“The good thing is that the good old days can be revived. We came to crave the support of our Tor tiv to prevail on all his sons and daughters to come together to reinstitute the J.S Tarka stadium which has been out of use some times now,” Barr. Edeh, who is also the President of Ratels Sports Development Foundation said.

Responding, the Tor Tiv who leads many traditional rulers within Tiv existence living in parts of the country and world, while assuring of his readiness to continuously support football development, congratulated the new FA board and prayed that the present BSFA will excel.

He specifically said the emergence of Barr. Edeh as chairman was apt due to his passion and steady commitment to football developmental projects as a notable club owner.

He however, decried lack of sporting interest by previous government leaderships in the state, adding “We have made several efforts to sponsor different Sports but the government hasn’t been forthcoming.

“We hope that the new government will ensure that the right person is appointed to man Sports in the state because what people see the government get interested in doing, is naturally what they will focus on.

“Sports, particularly football is the way to go in talent hunting and positively engaging the young people. Promoting football will open vista of opportunities for our people.”

The Paramount Ruler who recalled previous efforts made to resuscitate J.S stadium and restore BCC Lions, the first northern Nigerian club to win the Challenge Cup in 1989, now known as Federation Cup said, “But we can start again and rise. People like Daniel Amokachi who made it in sports have become a great encouragement of the young people.

“I want to assure you that discussion about Sports will be major area I will always speak with the governor anytime I have opportunity to meet him.”

On restoring Tor Tiv Cup, the Chairman of Benue State Council of Traditional Rulers said, “The lack of interest by the local government area leaderships forced it not to continue in the past. We gave the councils some roles to play, that was where we had issues… By the time we start again, we will not stop.”

The Barr Paul Edeh-led FA board later made special presentation of football and other unique items to the Tor Tiv.

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TRS Promotions announces 2024 Ludo Competition with N1m Grand Prize

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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.

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DC Haniel Hadison emerges the winner of Veteran’s final in Squash Tourney at Lagos Country Club

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From left: Chairman, Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, Sir 'Semoore Badejo, Captain Caulkrick, Deputy Managing Director, Merchant Express, Mr. Seyi Adewunmi, Dr. Bunmi Apata, winner of the Squash Men's final, Captain Shina Akinfenwa, Chairman/Managing Director of Merchant Express, Mr. Kingsley Nwokoma and the Captain of the Squash Section, Dr. Niyi Ibrahim.

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.

From left: Captain of the Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, Dr. Niyi Ibrahim,
Chairman of the Section, Sir ‘Semoore Badejo, Mr. Seyi Adewunmi, presenting an Appreciation memorabilia to
Captain Shina Akinfenwa, Chairman/Managing Director of Merchant Express, Mr. Kingsley Nwokoma and
Captain Caulkrick, Deputy Managing Director, Merchant Express.


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.

From left: Chairman, Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, Sir ‘Semoore Badejo, Alhaji Yussuf Durosinlorun, representative of Nigeria Squash Federation, DC Haniel Hadison, winner of the Squash Veteran’ s final, Captain Shina Akinfenwa, Chairman/Managing Director of Merchant Express, Sir Ladi Smith, a Patron of Squash Section, LCC and the Captain of the Squash Section, Dr. Niyi Ibrahim.


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.

From left: Captain of the Squash Section LCC, Dr. Niyi Ibrahim, Telema Princewill of the Port Harcourt Squash Club, winner of the Squash Super-Veteran’s final, Captain Shina Akinfenwa, Chairman/Managing Director of Merchant Express and
Chairman, Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, Sir ‘Semoore Badejo.


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.

From left: Captain of the Squash Section, Dr. Niyi Ibrahim, Captain Caulkrick, Deputy Managing Director, Merchant Express Cargo Services, Mr Seyi Adewunmi,
winner of the 4th PSA Squash Tournament, Male Category, Gabriel Olufunmilayo, Captain Shina Akinfenwa, Chairman/Managing Director of Merchant Express Cargo Services, Mr. Kingsley Nwokoma and Chairman, Squash Section,
Lagos Country Club ‘Semoore Badejo.


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.

From left: Chairman, Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, Sir ‘Semoore Badejo, Mr. Kingsley NwokomaIbrahim, winner of the 4th PSA Squash Tournament, Female Category, Busayo Olatunji, Vice Chairman of Swimming Section, LCC, Mr Demola Ogunlesi, Captain Shina Akinfenwa, Chairman/Managing Director of Merchant Express and the Captain of the Squash Section, Dr. Niyi Ibrahim.


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.

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Philip Shuaib to feature as “Guest Player’ for NUJ Team in football tournament

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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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