Sports
CNS Swimming Championship Ready to Make Waves with Support from NSC, Delta Government
Joel Ajayi
Delta State, Nigeria – July 8, 2025 — Final preparations are underway for the highly anticipated Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Swimming Championship, set to begin in Delta State. As excitement builds across the country, the Nigerian Navy and the Delta State Government have thrown their full support behind what is expected to be a landmark event in the nation’s sporting calendar.
The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) has demonstrated strong commitment to the event by mobilizing relevant departments within the Nigerian Navy to collaborate closely with the Nigeria Aquatics Federation.
“We are most excited that the CNS himself has thrown his weight around this event and has deployed the relevant department within the Navy structure to work with the federation to ensure its success,” said Taiwo Oriss, Secretary General of the Nigeria Aquatics Federation
The National Sports Commission NSC, and host Delta State, is also making strong moves to support the event. “Even the National Sports Commission and host Delta State Government is rallying around the federation at the dying minute—at the 11th hour, I must say—to ensure the success,” Oriss added.
With such unprecedented institutional backing, expectations are high that this year’s championship will set a new standard. “We are about to witness an event bigger than anything we have seen before,” he emphasized.
The Nigeria Aquatics Federation is urging Delta State residents and sports enthusiasts across the country to come out in large numbers and support the athletes. “We look forward to having the good people of Delta State around to cheer our champions to victory,” Oriss stated.
Swimming is experiencing a surge in popularity across Nigeria. At the last National Sports Festival in Abeokuta, the sport drew the highest attendance of all events, underscoring a shifting national interest. “Swimming emphatically had the highest followership at the last National Sports Festival. It shows that Nigerians are beginning to put swimming first,” Oriss noted.
This mirrors international trends, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently reporting that swimming recorded some of the highest global figures in viewership, ticket sales, and sponsorship during the last Olympic Games.
Competition Schedule and Opening Ceremony
Teams are expected to arrive on Sunday, July 13, 2025, with practice sessions scheduled to begin on Monday, July 14, 2025. Each team will be allotted one hour in the pool for training and acclimatization, divided between morning and afternoon sessions.
“All the teams are going to be scheduled to come into the pool for practice as planned—some in the morning, others in the afternoon. Each team gets about one hour in the water,” said Oriss.
The main competition officially kicks off on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, with the opening ceremony scheduled for 3 p.m., coinciding with the arrival of key dignitaries and special guests.
Participation and Team Registration
The championship is drawing participation from across the country, including state teams, clubs, schools, and military and paramilitary institutions. While late registration is common, 13 teams and clubs have already fully registered.
“Although most of our teams do last-minute registration, we already have 13 confirmed,” a federation official confirmed.
High Expectations and National Pride
With the support of the Nigerian Navy and Delta State Government, coupled with increasing national interest in the sport, the federation is confident this championship will be a defining moment in Nigerian swimming history.
“We have no doubt that this is one among the rest. We are confident it will stand out,” said Oriss. “We urge Nigerians to come out in full to witness history, cheer on our swimmers, and show unwavering support for the sport.”
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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