By Our Correspondent in Minna
The Chairman, Niger State Squash Association (NSSA) Chairman, Alhaji Muhammad Babujee has decried the inability of the state government to take full responsibility for sports funding and promotion.
He, therefore urged private and corporate organizations to join hands with the association in promoting sports for job creation.
The state Squash Chairman gave the advice at the finals of the Squash Tournament to mark the year 2020, World Squash Day which took place at the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), Nigerian Army, Minna.
He said that With the support of philanthropists and corporate organizations,the cry for abandonment and lack of training facilities for sports development in the state would be a thing of the past.
According to him, with sports fully developed, many unemployed youths would be engaged in sporting activities thereby reducing idleness and crime to the barest minimum
Babuje, who spoke through his Vice, Chinwendu Nnadozie, said it was unfortunate that NSSA had to go borrowing to commemorate the World Squash Day.
“The Squash Court located at David Mark road was blown off by rainstorm since last year. Here we are in TRADOC, borrowing its facility. This is not a good for the image of the government and people of Niger state,” he said
The Chairman, however, commended the Nigerian Army for releasing its facility for the event,the organizers and sponsors of the tournament including; Absolute Squash Academy and the Association of Former Female Athletes of Nigeria (AFFAN), for making the celebration in the state a reality.
The Director, Absolute Squash Academy, Mr. T’Connor Tuodolo, earlier said he spearheaded the tournament not only to discover new talents but also as part of his contributions toward the growth and development of Squash in Niger state.
Tuodolo commended AFFAN for being supportive towards the success of the two-day event which he noted with delight, had produced new Squash champions for Niger state.
The Reporters, an online publication, reports that at the finals of the keenly contested 2 categories tournament, Emmanuel Patrick and Easter Paul emerged the new U-15 (male and female) champions while Aliyu Ibrahim also emerged the current U-10 Squash champion for the state.
Tuodolo recalls that the overall best player for the tournament, Patrick Emmanuel started playing squash less than a year now.
Peter Odeh came 2nd for the U-10 while Emmanuel Vincent and Gloria Kayasa took the second position for the U-15 male and female respectively.
