Sports

NCF And Steps Toward Taking Cricket Game To Nooks And Crannies Of Nigeria

Published

2 years ago

September 26, 2024

By Joel Ajayi

Without an iota of doubt, or amplifying, in the last few years, the game of Cricket in the country has taken the path of history, Cricket is not new in the country, it was one of the first internationally recognized sports in the most populous black Nation.

According to history, Cricket was introduced into and first played in Nigeria by British colonial administrators in the 19th century as the first international cricket match involving Nigeria was against the Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1904.

Excitingly, Cricket is now the game in which Nigeria has the highest ranking presently. Nigeria has risen to 25th in the world rankings for female cricket, from 42nd, while the men’s team has climbed to 28th, also from 48th

Since 2020, Nigeria started breaking new grounds in the game of Cricket and is now one of the countries feared for its prowess in the game after beating hands down Zimbabwe U19 Women’s team, just on Monday, thereby making history by beating a test-playing nation Zimbabwe by one wicket at the Ongoing Africa U19 World Cup Qualifiers in Rwanda.

The victory will be the first time the women’s cricket team will beat any of the International Cricket Council (ICC) 10 test-playing nations, which are usually regarded as the elite cricket-playing nations.

Not only that, facilities that were a serious issue are not a thing of the past, as the Nigeria Cricket Federation’s effort is yielding impressive results.

Currently, Nigeria can boast of beautiful ovals, starting from the beautiful twin Oval in Nigeria’s capital city, in the North central region of the country.

Also, with Tafawa Balewa Square Cricket Oval in Lagos in the Southwest.

In the South-south part of the country, Iyoba College and the Edo Boys High School High-Performance Center in Benin, Edo State were put in better perspective to enable the game to be played while Akwa Ibom Oval is almost ready

In the North West Kaduna Oval is nearly ready courtesy of the Kaduna State government.

While some sports are battling with age cheats, the NCF have had it all figured out by putting up a clear-cut mechanism at developmental stages.

No wonder today, 90% of Nigerian players are the product of grassroots drive through the national championship, compared to some sports federations with the syndrome of foreign players.

Today, coaches are swelling up; from about just 10 to over 41 coaches doing well for the country.

Also, close to 50 curators are on the payroll of the federation.

However, the federation under the leadership of Uyi Akpata, is not planning to relax its efforts in making cricket the most popular sport in the country as he said efforts are being made to stage more competitions for the growth of the game.

As at today, Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) is set to launch its largest-ever Super Cricket Festival, bringing together between 600 to 1,000 female secondary school students at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, this October.

Akpata revealed this on Tuesday in Abuja during a media briefing with stakeholders. He attributed the unprecedented growth and transformation of cricket over the past four years to a strong passion for the development of the sport across the country. He emphasized that the federation is committed to ensuring cricket reaches every corner of Nigeria.

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Sports

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

Published

8 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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