The minister of Sports development, Senator John Enoh along with the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Farouk Yahaya (Rtd) have commissioned the renovated General Abdulsalami Abubakar Squash Courts at Command Guest House, Abuja.
Senator Enoh, while commissioning rehabilitated squash court, described it as encouraging, saying it is in line with one of the plans and purposes of the Sports Ministry.
“One of the things I ensure from the very beginning is to try as much as possible to give as much attention as I can to all the sports that are being practiced by Nigerians to serve as an encouragement and motivation. Squash is one of the federations under the Ministry of Sports Development,” he said.
According to him, the greatest challenge of sports in Nigeria has been the absence of infrastructure and facilities for the practice of different sports, adding that even with the facilities in place, the challenge of maintenance is also a problem.
“We are not just promoting the development of facilities, we are also interested in seeing how much we can maintain existing facilities so sports men and women can actually engage in them.
“All I have heard about squash is its association with the Military. Former President Obasanjo is always associated with playing Squash, and I think he is one of the greatest promoters. The top hierarchy of the Military must continue to sustain the tradition of sport, also young military officers should be encouraged to sustain the tradition and expand it to the rest of the country.”
Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Farouk Yahaya (Rtd), who was represented by Maj Gen Akintade, said witnessing the rehabilitation of the squash club was heartwarming.
“When we were young officers, squash was an elitist sport, every one of us then wanted to play squash. But as I sat down here today, I was trying to find out how the sport gradually disappeared. It was played nearly everywhere then by the crème de la crème of the military. But when we joined the army, as soon as we were commissioned, the sport gradually paled into insignificance, and you can see that led to the deterioration of the facilities. But I want to say today that it is heartwarming that squash is gradually coming back.”
He urged the management of the club to do more on publicity to attract Nigerians. “I have been playing golf for over 30 years, I was supposed to have been playing squash. So, I want to advise that we do everything to publicise the game.
“If the immediate past Chief of Army Staff recognized the fact and supported the rehabilitation of the squash club, I think everyone should also do everything to support the game. In my capacity, I want to donate the sum of N500,000.”
The chairman, Command Squash Club, George Ukaegbu, in his opening remarks congratulated the patrons and members of the club for the feat achieved through the redesigned and renovation works.
He said the idea to redesign and renovate the squash court building was to create a more sitting area and modern aesthetic look was muted by one of the patrons, Mr Anthony Ojeme in May, 2022. “We as a club latched onto that dream, and today we have a beautifully renovated club house we can be justifiably proud of. We are grateful to the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force and management of Command Guest House for the support over the years.”
