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Sports minister felicitates with Osimhen, Oshoala for clinching 2023 Ballon D’or nomination award

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The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh, has congratulated the Nigerian duo of Victor Osimhen and Asisat Oshoala for clinching the nomination for 2023 Ballon d’Or awards in the male and female categories, making Nigeria the first-ever African country to have nominees in both categories in the same year.

Enoh while congratulating the nominees on Friday in his office in Abuja, stated that President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the entire Federal Executive Council as well as all sports loving Nigerians felicitate with them for becoming one of the few players from the country to have achieved the feat.
Director of Press and Public Relations Mohammed Manga in a statement issued in Abuja quoted the minister to have tindicated that both players enjoyed an incredible year for their clubs and country with Osimhen, currently a leading scorer in the African Cup of Nations qualifying series, having seven goals.


This, he added, makes him the first male Nigerian footballer to be shortlisted for the award in 24 years, apart from Kanu Nwankwo who was the last Nigerian player to be shortlisted for the award in 1999*

Senator Enoh explained that the 24-year-old made history as the first African to be crowned Capocannoniere last season in the Serie A when he scored 25 league goals last term, beating off Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan and AC Milan’s Rafael Leao to scoop the prize for the Best Striker in Serie A.

He noted that Osimhen also helped the team reach the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League and was instrumental to the sealing of a ticket by the Super Eagles to the delayed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

This feat, the Minister said earned the 24-year-old player, the accolade as the first African to top the Serie A scorers’ chart.

According to him, the Nigerian Sports Icon broke George Weah’s record for the highest goals scored by an African in the Italian league with the achievement, while the Napoli striker was the first from the continent to achieve the feat, adding that the player also won the Scudetto after scoring 26 Serie A goals (31 goals in 39 games across all competitions).

Senator Enoh stated further that Oshoala, on her part ,earned her consecutive nomination after a successful campaign with Barcelona Femeni where she won the Women’s Champions League.

Last year, he said, “she became the first African to be nominated for the Women’s Ballon d’Or and this time, she is the only African player listed in the women’s category*

The Minister who disclosed that the 28-year-old was the top scorer for Barcelona Femeni last season after she notched 26 goals (21 league goals and five in the Women’s Champions League) in all competitions, noted that Oshoala was also instrumental to Barcelona Femeni winning the league title and the Women’s Champions League last season.

The nomination of the duo for the awards, he added, not only made Nigeria proud globally, but will also spur the present administration to invest more in the development of sports with a view to ensuring that the country joins the Committee of sporting nations.

While urging the Athletes to continue to make the country proud through podium finishes, Senator Enoh called on relevant stakeholders in the sporting industry to join hands with the government, not only for the purpose of the development of the sector, but also to ensure economic growth of our nation.

The prestigious ceremony for the final award is expected to be held in Paris on October 30, 2023.

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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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