Sports

BSFA Chairman Rewards Victorious Lobi U-19 Team with ₦700,000 Cash Gift

Published

1 year ago

August 26, 2025

The Chairman of Benue State Football Association (BSFA), Chief Dr. Paul Edeh Esq, has rewarded Lobi Stars U-19 team who finished tops at the just concluded U19 tournament in Abia State.

The Lobi Stars young team who represented Benue State leapfrogged their counterparts from Abia, Enugu, Rivers States to place best in their group.

Thereafter, they qualified for the Super 6 expected to be staged in Benue State in days ahead.

Announcing the cash rewards, Chief Edeh immediately gave the players N500, 000, while their coaches got N200, 000.

While eulogisiing the team, the Benue FA Chairman who is known for his philanthropic gestures and football administrator par excellence said, “Moving forward, the efforts that the board of the Benue Football Association has made is to ensure that we pay particular attention to the coaches especially, those that serve within the academy level.

“Having said that, let me acknowledge that it’s the efforts of these academies and coaches that gave Lobi Stars these set of young lads that went to Abia and topped their group and qualified for the Super 6 .

“Every boy who is here was discovered from an academy, either in Markurdi or Oturkpo or across the state.”

Chief Edeh urged the academies to always make their players available to Lobi Stars even at the senior team level, just as he charged the club’s management to reciprocate with necessary payments to the players and academies.

On his part, the Chairman of Lobi Stars FC, Dr. Philip Nongu, who doubles as the Acting Commissioner, Benue State Ministry of Youth, Sports and Creativity, assured of willingness to keep their own side of the bargain while appealing for cooperation by the academies.

Recalling how the U-19 team was formed, Dr. Nongu said, “When we got request for that championship, it was four days to the commencement and I told the coaches, can they please release their players so that they will represent the state at Umuahia and they said yes.

“And they went and made us proud, because of their determination and discipline, we’re proud of them.”

He appealed for all in Benue State and beyond to rally round Lobi Stars as they rebuild to relaunch at the zenith level, adding, “Lobi Stars belongs to the whole State. It doesn’t belong to Philip Nongu. The team belongs to the whole state so, please let us join hands, now that we’re starting afresh and the sky is not the limit for Lobi Stars football club by the grace of God.”

Share on Facebook

Sports

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

Published

17 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.

Share on Facebook