Sports

We are ready for better 2022/2023, NLO assures stakeholders

Published

3 years ago

April 27, 2023

….As Hostilities start Next week Wednesday

Joel Ajayi

Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Nationwide League One (NLO), Sola Ogunnowo has revealed that the competition organisers are committed to providing adequate security and medicals to have a better upcoming 2022/2023 league season.

Ogunnowo gave the commitment during a news conference at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, held as part of activities heralding the May 3 kickoff of the amateur league.

He said the league ruling body had put in place adequate security measures for the safety of fans, spectators, players, match officials and other club officials.

“The league season will start by May 3, and in the area of security, we have put in place the best approach in terms of security personnel around the match venues.

“We will work with all the security bodies in the country, such as the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Boys Scout, and of course private security guards mainly for the match officials.

“We will be having the private security guards for the match officials, because they are usually the target for the irate fans, and we don’t want anything untoward to happen to them,” Ogunnowo said.

The NLO COO also explained that the medical state and status of each player were also a top priority for the league body.

“For the past six years, we have been carrying out comprehensive medical checks on NLO players. Those medical results are put together and sent to the FIFA.

“FIFA is very much interested in our medical results because it forms part of their own research and documentation as well. We have been working with FIFA medical network for a long time now.

“We hardly have a case of an NLO player who collapsed on the pitch because those issues would have been detected during the medical screenings.

“At the same time, we also ensure that all NLO players have insurance cover which is done at the registration level.

“We have Accident and Life insurance cover for the players, which is part of the money paid for registration,” Ogunnowo added.

The NLO is the third-tier of the country’s domestic league, with more than 300 clubs and academies fighting for honours.

Meanwhile, the NLO Secretariat has unveiled a two-week programme which will define the smooth commencement of the season.

The 2022/2023 NLO Division One season will kick off with a Kano derby between Kano Pillars Jnr and Kwankwasiya FC at the Sani Abacha Stadium on May 3.

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Sports

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

Published

4 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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