Sports

NVPL: Nimrod Applauds Customs CG, Promises A Greater 2025 For Volleyball

Published

2 years ago

December 16, 2024

NVPL: Nimrod Thumbs Customs CGC, Promises A Greater 2025 For Volleyball

Joel Ajayi

The President of the Nigeria Volleyball Federation, Engineer Musa Nimrod, weekend showered a great encomium on the Nigeria Customs Service Comptroller General of Customs (CGC) Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, who lifted the faces of volleyball game in the country through the sponsoring of the 2023 Volleyball Premier League.

The 2024 Comptroller General of Customs Volleyball Premier League came to a thrilling conclusion in Abuja where Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) emerged as champions in the women’s and men’s categories, respectively.

Speaking after the presentation on Saturday in Abuja, an excited NVF president Nimrod, thanked CGC for his immense contribution toward the growth of the game in the country.

According to him, first I want to thank the CGC for coming to our aid.

“What we are saying is that we believe in public-private partnership, this is a working relationship with collaboration, it has been very good, and CG taking quite a lot of the responsibility.

“We also have our own responsibility, and we appreciate it, because that has turned things in the right direction, you can see that nobody could believe that we can play competitive games on the doubles court.

“We are happy, and I want to tell Nigerians that 2025 is going to be great, because we just finished our Congress today, and a lot of our program have been given to us by the Congress, so I know that 2025 is going to be great in the general volleyball history, even in Africa, something good is coming to Africa.

“I want to show you that our two international coaches in a Beach Volleyball have accepted to come to Nigeria for 12 months, yes, we are very grateful to FIVB and CAVB, So, it’s going to be lot next year, I want to see African Championship in Nigeria, when we get the approval, we will announce it to you.

“Let me tell you, when we came on board, I told you, I want to give football a run, yes, because in those days, 70s and early 80s, it was football and volleyball, and we are back, because you can see the crowd, it’s fantastic, so I think we have come.”

He however pledged that, federation, we will not stop in our effort toward promotion of grassroots development: “It’s one of our keys, now it’s surprising, even the president of this country believes in grassroots development.

“Once again, I want to thank CG for sponsoring our premier League. I believe that there is going to be continuity, as I said, watch out for 2025. it’s not only, primarily, but something great is coming.” He vowed.

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Sports

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

Published

12 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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