Sports
2021 Engineering Games: NSE Abuja defeat NSE Ilorin 2-0 for record fourth successful title
Joel Ajayi
Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) Abuja Branch on Monday defeated NSE Ilorin Branch 2-0 to emerge winners of the 2021 National Engineering Games in Abuja.
Two first half goals from Aslem Okoro and Osas Agbonile were enough to see off the Ilorin-based side and give NSE Abuja Branch side a fourth successive victory in the history of the games.
The defending champions came into the final after walking over NSE Calabar branch in the semi-finals.
NSE Ilorin Branch on the other hand walloped NSE Apapa Branch 5-0 to book a final berth with the defending champions.
The Abuja-based side dominated the first half from the blast of the referee’s whistle and only had to wait 10 minutes later to take the lead through Okoro’s right-footed strike.
Man-of-the-tournament Agbonile who scored a total of five goals in the tournament, doubled the lead in the 21st minute, curling a fine finish into the far corner after a lovely cross which split the opponent’s defence.
The winners pocketed a whopping N500, 000 and the first runners up smiled home with N300, 000, while the second runners up, the NSE Apapa Branch team took home N200, 000.
Douglas Oloton, the Team Manager of NSE Abuja Branch told newsmen after the game that the team’s success was as a result of several months of training and hardwork.
“We are very excited for the victory. We’ve been training week in-week out ahead of the competition and defeated alot of our opponents in the course of the qualifiers to get to this point.
“Incidentally, we had met our opponents in the final in the 2015 edition of the tournament in Ilorin and defeated them by the same margin.
“So, we knew our opponents’ style of play and worked on a perfect strategy to defeat them once again on home soil,” he said.
The President of NSE, Babagana Mohammed told newsmen that the 2021 NSE Games has intoned the association’s drive in fostering fitness and unity among the country’s professionals.
The NSE boss said that the event had indeed fostered unity and promoted healthy living through sporting activities amongst NSE professionals.
“This initiative is aimed at fostering unity amongst the diverse ethnic groups that make up the association.
“Life is not all about work, we have to be healthy and at peace with each other in order to enjoy our hard earned wealth.
“We intend to make this an annual event after the last Games was hosted six years ago.
“We have over 100 competitors from Imo, Calabar, Kaduna, Borno, Gombe, Gusau, Benin, Rivers, Enugu and we hope that when they go back to their respective states, they will commence zonal competitions,” he said.
Margaret Oguntala, an Executive Director of Kenol Nig. Ltd., sponsors of the football tournament said sponsoring the games was part of the company’s Coporate Social Responsibility.
“It feels great to sponsor this tournament as we are satisfying one of the objectives of the company which is Corporate Social Responsibility.
“Also, we thought it was expedient for us to be a part of this as corporate fair members of the NSE as a way of contributing to the development of the games of the NSE.
“The idea of the games was conceived as far back as 2011 and we have been sponsoring it annually. It’s gone round across the country with 86 branches of the NSE taking part in the tournament.
“We also intend to contribute to the development of the country through the sporting sector, as engineers we are geared at building and we take nation building as our core mandate,” she said.
Sports
Plateau Vipers, Benue Queens Crowned Champions at HFN North Central Division One Tourney
Joel Ajayi
The President of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Jibril Seidu, has said the federation will continue to intensify its grassroots talent development drive through zonal competitions across the country.
Seidu stated this on Saturday in Abuja at the finals of the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship, where Plateau Vipers defeated Suleja Shooters 29-24 to emerge champions in the men’s category.
In the women’s final, Benue Queens of Makurdi defeated City Queens of Suleja to claim the title.
The eight-day tournament featured teams from across the North Central Zone, with Plateau Vipers of Jos, Confluence Stars of Lokoja, Unity Boys of Abuja, Suleja Shooters and Nasarawa Ambassadors of Lafia competing in the men’s category.
In the women’s category, Nuela Handball Academy of Ilorin, Inikpi Babes of Idah, Benue Queens of Makurdi and City Queens of Suleja competed for honours.
At the end of the competition, four teams — two male and two female — emerged as the North Central Zone’s representatives for the national Division One league.
According to Seidu, the tournament was organised as part of the federation’s deliberate strategy to take handball development back to the regions and discover talents that might otherwise remain unnoticed.
He said the HFN board, inaugurated on October 25, 2025, resolved that grassroots development was essential to creating a sustainable pipeline of players for national and international competitions.
“All the teams you have seen here are from the North Central Zone of the country, and every state is represented with an academy or state team,” he said.
Seidu explained that the new approach marked a departure from the previous system, where talent identification was largely centred on the federation’s major league competitions.
He said taking competitions to the regions would provide young players with greater opportunities to showcase their abilities while strengthening the foundation of handball across the country.
The HFN president also linked the grassroots initiative to Nigeria’s recent achievements in international handball, stressing the need to develop younger players who can eventually replace members of the current national teams.
He noted that Nigeria had qualified for the 2027 Men’s Junior Handball World Championship in North Macedonia, describing the achievement as evidence of the potential within the country’s handball system.
“How do we replace these players with upcoming players? This is the avenue for us to get players,” he said.
Seidu added that the federation was determined to make handball more visible and accessible, describing it as one of Nigeria’s major sporting disciplines with significant potential for growth.
The North Central tournament is part of a wider zonal programme designed to decentralise handball development across Nigeria.
According to the federation, similar competitions are being organised across other zones, including the South East, North East, North West and South South, with qualifiers from each zone expected to converge at a designated venue for the next stage of the competition.
The federation also appealed for greater support from sponsors, stakeholders and state associations to sustain its grassroots development programme.
It expressed appreciation to the participating states, academies, team sponsors and other stakeholders for their support and commitment to the growth of handball in Nigeria.
The federation said the initiative would provide a platform for discovering the next generation of Nigerian handball stars while expanding the sport’s reach beyond its traditional centres.
While Speaking the elated coach of Benue Queen Godwin Tondo has promised a stronger and more tactical performance after guiding the team to victory at the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship in Abuja.
He attributed the success to the team’s long-term youth development programme, noting that the squad was built through a deliberate process of identifying and nurturing young talents.
According to him, the programme began with the selection of 92 girls from secondary schools, who were subsequently trained and developed over a four-year period.
He said the team’s success was a product of sustained hard work and commitment despite the challenges encountered during preparations for the tournament.
“I feel very pleased being a champion today. The road to this stage was very, very hard, but I am very happy that we have got the result from all the toughness of the game,” he said.
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