…Gov Diri Reaffirms Administration’s Commitment to Hosting 2028 National Sports Festival
From Kenechukwu Obiajuru, Yenagoa
Adebola Samuel of Ogun State has emerged winner of the Masters category in the 5th Governor Douye Diri National Scrabble Championship in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
The two-day tournament, which featured over 300 players in five categories, including Masters, Intermediate, Opens, Veterans and Students, witnessed Adebola Samuel smiling to the bank with the trophy and star prize of One Million Naira (N1,000,000).
Samuel joins Avwenagha Oshevire of Delta, Nsikak Etim of Akwa Ibom and Enoch Nwali of Ebonyi State as winners of the annual fiesta.
Samuel won the Masters category with a cumulative of +856, Jimoh Abdulmumini came second with +672 cumulative while Chuks Nwaeze finished third with +354 cumulative.
Dorcas Innocent of Bayelsa was crowned winner of the Opens category, dethroning Theophilus Nimibo in the category. Former national champion, Doku Esan took home the Veteran’s title while Edowor Bobor emerged champions in the Intermediate category to overthrow Doubara Enai.
Pereowei Edidie of the Federal Government College, Odi retained the Students category title with a cumulative of +2060 while August Shannon came second with +1748 cumulative.
Declaring the championship closed, Governor Douye Diri commended the Bayelsa State Scrabble Association for consistently hosting the championship in the last five years which has become one of Nigeria’s premier intellectual sporting event.
Governor Diri, who was represented by the Commissioner for Sports Development, Dr Daniel Igali, noted that the performance of the players has shown that sports is not just about physical contest but also an avenue for discipline and national unity.
He remarked that there is a deliberate effort by his administration to make Bayelsa the hub of sports in Nigeria, stating that the state’s triumph in the maiden Niger Delta Sports Festival in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State and the performance of Bayelsa in the last three editions of the National Sports Festival was indicative of the state government’s investment in sports.
According to him, Bayelsa is not a one-sport state but multi-dimensional, adding that the state won medals in over twenty different sports which showcases the versatility of Bayelsa sporting prowess, maintaining that his administration is using sports as a tool to curb crime.
Governor Diri, who hinted that Bayelsa has officially submitted a bid to host the 2028 National Sports Festival which the state is upbeat of winning, pointing out that the 2028 National Sports Festival would be well-organised and the most athletes-friendly National Sports Festival.
His words, “this tournament fully supported by the Bayelsa State Government has become one of Nigeria’s most premier intellectual sporting events attracting top players across the country with prize money this year amounting to N10,000,000.00”.
President of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation, Chief Olubake Aka in his remark, asserted that the overwhelming results of this year’s tournament signifies that the championship is yielding results.
While commending Governor Diri for financing the tournament, Chief Aka appealed to the government, corporate organizations and multinational oil companies to sponsor in order to improve the prize money.
Earlier in the address of welcome, chairman of the Bayelsa State Scrabble Association, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, opined that the Governor Douye Diri National Scrabble Championship has become a pride to the state, stressing that the tournament creates an avenue for frenzy.
He explained that the championship has improved the performance of Bayelsans in becoming better scrabble players, pointing out that a Bayelsan winning the Masters in the last National Sports Festival speaks volumes of the competition’s impact on the state.
The winner of the Master’s category, Adebola Samuel in an interview, expressed joy for his triumph, adding that his aim at the moment is to perform excellently at the World Championship in Malaysia this year and the African Scrabble Championship.
He explained that he won the championship from an English word “Volubly” derived from “voluble” which means “talkative”, having played averrment earlier.
