Sports
Sports Minister Tasks Senior Ministry Officials on Development Plan for Discovered Talents
…Says it cannot be business as usual
Joel Ajayi
Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, on Tuesday, charged Heads of the Department of the Ministry to come up with strategic plans that will define the growth path of talents discovered at the recently concluded National Youth Games in Asaba, the capital of Delta State.
Senator Enoh who chaired an interactive meeting with senior officials of the ministry alongside Alhaji Ismaila Abubakar, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry stated that such a strategic plan should be able to keep talented athletes under the radar of the Ministry and also define a clear path for them to climb to the top of the various sports where they have excelled.
He said that it was important to sustain the interest of these talented athletes in their various sports since they could easily lose interest if no plan is put in place to harness their talents.
Beyond the just concluded National Youth Games, Senator Enoh stated that what the Ministry does with these discovered talents was more important than the emphasis on the medals table and states that achieved the highest medals haul.
The Minister sued for greater synergy amongst the different departments to achieve this objective. He stressed that it was important to show Nigerians the growth trajectory of these talented athletes before the next National Youth Games.
“If we are able to show what we have been able to do with these discovered talents before the next National Youths Games, it will inspire confidence and buy-in by Nigerians and relevant stakeholders,” the Minister said. “It should not be business as usual.”
He stressed that under his leadership, failure to take decisive action on this issue is not an option.
He warned that if the Ministry failed to come up with implementable plans on the way forward, sports-loving Nigerians would soon put them to the sword.
In his opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Ismaila Abubakar said that the essence of the meeting was for the Ministry to evaluate their performance at the Games and come up with suggestions and ways the Ministry can improve in subsequent games. He called for an unfettered exchange of ideas among the senior officials of the Ministry present at the meeting.
The interactive session witnessed a frank exchange of ideas by various officials of the ministry. These inputs will form part of a strategic plan setting out a path to the top for the discovered talented athletes being hammered out by a team assembled by the Minister.
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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