The board of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) has solicited the support of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for its activities in the year as it looks forward to good and favourable outings at the All African Games (AAG) and the Olympic Games holding later in the year.
Led by its president, Daniel Igali, during a courtesy visit to the NCS headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, the NWF urged the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Bashiru Adeniyi, to assist the board to achieve podium performance at the African Games and the Olympics.
Igali, who said the CGC has brought a new zeal of life to the Wrestling Federation being a board member, described his (CGC) passion for the sports as deep-seated and unparalleled.
He said the board is focused on bringing glory to the country at international championships such as the two big Games by picking the right athletes to win medals for the country. He said like in the past, the Federation is ready to deliver and make the country proud again.
“Let me start by thanking you for the support we’ve received from members like you who have taken time to invest not personally in meetings but also financially. We look forward to more support. We are focused on positive things and of course, this is a very big year. The year of the African Games, of the Olympics. We have plans in place to ensure that we pick the right athletes.
“We’ll have our trials hopefully in the next couple of weeks, first week of February. Have them in camp and get them prepared for the Olympic qualifiers first which is in Alexandria, Egypt by the second week of March. We hope to qualify at least six athletes going to the Olympics so that hopefully between June and August when we get back to the Olympics, we’ll deliver again.
“If you recall, at the last Olympics, Nigeria brought back with two medals. The highest was silver and it was won in wrestling Blessing Oborodudu. Over the years at the continental, Commonwealth, World and Olympic events, the Wrestling Federation has clearly shown that because of the collective leadership, it is one of the foremost Federations in the country,” Igali, who is also Bayelsa State Commissioner for Sports, said.
The CGC in his remarks expressed confidence that the Federation will provide the necessary support for the athletes to emerge top at AAG and the Olympics. He added that the board has always worked together to achieve common goals in bringing honour to the fatherland.
“I’m particularly confident about our (wrestlers) chances in these Games (All African Games, African Championship, Olympics) because of the approach which the board (of NWF) has taken. It’s an approach which is time-tested. It’s the same approach which we used in the previous tournaments at the last Olympics, at the last trial. This is an approach that has ensured that in every tournament that we have featured, once wrestling is there, we always come back with a medal.
“This would not be an exception. We are planning the trials and it (the trials) will be held hopefully in the next few weeks and once we have the trials we hope we will be able to get the resources to put the selected wrestlers in some kind of camping arrangement before we hit Ghana. I am very confident that we are going to do very well during the All-African Games.
“The visit today has set the tone in that direction. We had a useful discussion. This is practically a board meeting. We have senior members of the board who accompanied the president and we had very good discussions on the various programs in our hands,” the CGC stated.
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