The 13th edition of the ECOWAS African Wrestling Tournament co-hosted between ECOWAS and National Sports Commission ended at the Velodrome MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Saturday with panache.
Scintillating, well-choreographed cultural displays and breathtaking traditional wrestling bouts highlighted the glitzy evening.
Senegal emerged overall winners with three gold and one silver while Nigeria (two gold and one silver) and Benin Republic (one silver, one bronze) finished second and third respectively.
Nigeria’s second-place was down to gold medals won by Ebipatei Lienbofa and Ebi Bigos in the women’s 66kg and 76kg respectively, a development which did not go unnoticed by the National Sports Commission Chairman Mallam Shehu Dikko.
While declaring the wrestling tournament closed, Mallam Dikko noted the fact that female athletes had contributed immensely to the nation’s past sporting exploits and had taken that trend to the ECOWAS African Wrestling Tournament.
He said, “Today is women’s day and we are proud as a Commission and, indeed the entire country, of the doggedness and resilience of our female wrestlers in this tournament.
“Over the years, the women have always come through for our sports in winning medals and have done the same at this tournament. We salute our sports women. Where could we have been without them.”
He emphasized that the performance of those female wrestlers is a clear testament to the Renewed Hope Agenda and shared prosperity vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR in sports.
The NSC Chairman further assured of a well sustained collaboration with all stakeholders in every aspect of sports adding particularly buttressing the preparedness of the National Sports Commission to synergize with the Ministry of Youth Development in engaging the youths positively through sports.
“Mr President has given us a clear directive that there should be proper collaboration within agencies of government which has to do with developing youths, culture, women and sports. We will put our energy together so as to get our youths productively engaged in sports, so that we can have that feel-good factor of doing sport and also staying healthy as well as earning revenues. You can see the money the people participating in the tournament are earning. We can really empower our youths through sports”, he pointed out.
He hinted that Saudi Arabia had expressed interest in investing in Nigeria’s sport, particularly its traditional sports, which according to him, underscores the essence of collaboration.
An elated Honourable Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande was thrilled with the abundance of sporting talents in the country and promised to continue to engage foster collaboration between his ministry and NSC to ensure that Nigerian youths realized their sporting potentials.
“I am so proud to associate with the Chairman of NSC, let me assure you that we are determined to work together in making sure that we provide a pathway for our youths through different sporting activities as well as our domestic sports competitions for the benefit of all”, he said.
In her remarks, Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs ECOWAS Commission, Professor Fatou Sow Sarr, represented by Amb. Francis Chuks Njoaguani, thanked Nigerian government for hosting the tournament and urged all participants to carry forward the values of unity, resilience, and excellence that they all celebrated in the three days impactful event.
The highpoint of the tournament was the award of medals, trophies and cash prizes.
As the overall winners, Senegal smiled home with $10,000, followed by Nigeria with the sum of $6,000, while third-placed Benin pocketed $3,000.
The DG of NSC Hon Bukula Olapade in his closing remarks thanked all participanting countries and the LOC of the championship for a well-organized competition.
He assured of NSC’s desire to continue to promote and host international tournaments in its drive to advance all sports in line with the objectives of the Renewed Hope Initiative for Nigerian Sports (RHINSE) framework.
Also present was former Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District Sen. Shehu Sani.
