Sports
Pension Fund Administrators (PFA) Games 2024 Set to Thrill Abuja
The Pension Fund Administrators (PFA) Games 2024 are set to take center stage in Abuja from November 26 to November 30, bringing together ten PFAs in a battle for sporting glory.
This year’s competition will see defending champions Trust Fund Pension (2023) and FCMB Pension (2022 champions) competing alongside PENCOM, Norrenberger Pension, Premium Pension, Tangerine APT Pension, NUPEMCO, NPF Pensions, Access Arm Pension, and NNPC.
The ten teams will participate in seven sporting events: Football (7/9-a-side), Coed Volleyball (6×6), Table Tennis, Snooker, Scrabble, Chess, and Team Bonding games.
During a press briefing held on Saturday at the Turf Arena Sports Center (TASC) in Abuja, Oladapo Oluwatope, the Main Local Organizing Chairman, shared exciting details about the event. He noted that the games will host between 500 and 700 staff members from the participating PFAs.
“We are delighted to announce a record-breaking ten PFAs participating in the PFA Games 2024,” Oluwatope said. “This year’s event will be a celebration of teamwork, strategy, agility, and focus, with thrilling competitions in various sports.”
In addition to traditional sporting events, the games will feature precision-based activities like chess and scrabble, which demand concentration and strategic thinking. These events aim to foster unity and collaboration among participants, adding a unique intellectual aspect to the competition.
The organizers have prioritized participant safety and well-being, providing regular health check-ups and first aid facilities. Enhanced security measures will also be in place, with professional security personnel and paramilitary forces ensuring a safe and enjoyable environment for all attendees.
Oluwatope expressed his excitement about hosting the fourth edition of the PFA Games, emphasizing the event’s role in promoting unity, healthy competition, and teamwork within the pension industry.
“This year’s competition promises to be an exciting and unforgettable experience,” he stated. “With more participants, higher stakes, and increased camaraderie, the PFA Games 2024 will raise the bar, creating broader networking opportunities and fostering enduring professional relationships.”
The PFA Games 2024 is set to deliver an extraordinary showcase of talent, strategy, and camaraderie, solidifying its reputation as a premier sporting event for the pension fund industry.
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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