Sports
Lobi Stars in capable hands under the watchful eyes of Dr. Phillip Nongu
By Pius Idoko
It is the dawn of a new era, and a new lease of life has come for all lovers and supporters of Lobi Stars Football Club of Makurdi, as the newly appointed chairman of the club, Comrade Dr. Phillip Nongu has expressed his deepest desire and the willingness to turn around the fortunes of the club from being an average sailing, or a mid table team to becoming a more competitive club in the country.
Dr. Phillip said this while speaking with sports journalists, at the FIFA goal project on Saturday afternoon in Abuja.
In spite of the fact that there were challenges on ground when he was assigned to take over the role as the new chairman of the club, Dr. Phillip believes his 15 years wealth of experience serving as the secretary of football in Benue state will be key in charting a new course for Lobi Stars.
On assumption, his first bold step following his prompt enthronement was to clear the backlog of some unpaid salaries of players and other staff which was taking it’s toll on the general performance of the club.
That being said, it is believed that the players are now in good spirit, and will shore up their ante with an improved performance in churning out good results in the league, while the board will also work together and get all stakeholders involved in their bid to drive the club in attaining new heights in Nigerian football.
“Our boys are in good spirit, when I took over, they had challenges of three months backlog of salaries, so their morale was down, but now that we have started paying, I think they’ll up their game”
“For the club itself, gone are the days when we struggle around relegation zone at times, although I can’t do it alone, we have to carry all the stakeholders along, since I took over, we are planning to meet with SWAN, the Referees, the fans and our supporters and the rest of them”
“Yes the appointment is a challenge but am not a new person in the football cycle, and am not new to the terrain, am coming in with some challenges we have at hand, but with time, we will be able to excel”
Comrade Dr. Phillip Nongu, is the Director of sports, Benue state, who also served as the secretary of football in Benue state for 15 years, and a premier league match commissioner at present.
He was appointment to take over the reigns from the former club chairman, Dominic Iorfa, two days before the commencement of the new NPFL season, and all lovers of football in the state have heave a sigh of relief, and are wishing and rooting for him to succeed being at the helm of affairs.
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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