Sports

My Greatest Joy Is Hosting 2020 National Sports Festival-Chief Dare

Published

5 years ago

April 13, 2021

Despite the odds, the challenges the much-awaited Edo 2020 National Sports Festival NSF is done and dusted courtesy of the effort put in place by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development under the able leadership of Chief Sunday Dare, in this interview he talked about the general overview of the event, the most fascinating games, amongst other.

Can you tell us, your general overview of Edo 2020 NSF?

I think, by and large, expectations have been met as a ministry, the objective of NSF have remained the same as a tool of national unity and also to bring our young talent from across the length and breadth of this country, the 36 states and FCT gathered here and apart from the colorful atmosphere, we have seen the great spirit of sportsmanship, we have seen the great display of talent and skill, we have seen cutting-edge competition among our young athletes.

And we have seen the kind of record-breaking, the excitement from the opportunity to participate, it is incomparable having waited over a year to do it some of them have trained and practice for two years so the opportunity to do the NSF for me it’s important and we have achieved that.

Interestingly, you have been to different centers watching athletes play live games which of them caught your attention?

I watched more than 10 different sports and I am excited this country has great potential and talents when it comes to sports and what is lacking is that of private partnership and private participation in our sports. The government has done enough already and we need to appreciate that.

Nigeria should be one of the top swimming countries in the world, that is also a sport you can easily win the highest number of medals so, the most important is how to develop a swimming program and partner especially if you look at the South and the far North Arugugu fishing festival people swim it’s a natural talent, so we need to really focus on swimming because from the Olympics alone we can get 10 medals that one.

Of course, football is king, I am glad to be here this morning to watch the final female football. Female football is on the rise apart from youth football development, FIFA is committed to the development of female football, and we can say we have arrived when comes to male football.

I have watched basketball it’s terrific, raw talent what validate that more was the fact that, for the record, this country is taking male and female basketball teams to the Olympics

Also, I watched Handball this morning fantastic, wrestling this is where we have world-beater numbers 1 and 2 in the world are from this country, Badminton, Gymnastics skill and talent are endless.

King of them all is track and field Athletic, we saw a lot of talent some of them we invested in them under our adoption of athletes initiative Campaign.

We’ve been founding them, they can pay their coaches, and get the right nutrition they need we have seen that working for us and we are going to intensify on that, we are going to put them together as Olympics team to make sure they are properly funded, I think the future is bright for our sports, all we need is a sustainable model and that is the challenge we have as a ministry to build the sustainable model that grows this talent.

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Sports

Plateau Vipers, Benue Queens Crowned Champions at HFN North Central Division One Tourney

Published

22 hours ago

October 3, 2026

The Gleamer

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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