President, Handball Federation Nigeria (HFN), Samuel Ocheho, has hailed the credibility and integrity of the organisers of the annual Sportsville Recognition Awards, describing it as ‘unbelievable.’
Ocheho is one of the administrators nominated for the sports federation category of the prestigious awards.
The venue of the event slated for Friday March 1st, 2024 is the EKO CLUB, Bode Thomas, Surulere, with many top dignitaries on the cards to grace the occasion.
The handball boss said he was aware of the SV Awards and over the years, the status of the organisers has been a big standout point.
“People talk about the integrity of the organizing body and the organization itself, Sporsville, with Frank Ilaboya and other guys. I commend them all. I have been in the sports scene for a long time and I interact with my other colleagues, they all have huge respect for Frank and other members of the team.
“And so it was easy for me to accept the nomination and I will be at the event live by the grace of God.”
Ocheho expressed delight about his nomination which he said would push him to work harder for the growth of handball in the country.
“This is a challenge to me. While many of us believe no one is seeing what we are doing in other sports except football, this nomination is a big boost for me to do much more for the game,” he said.
Before Ocheho became the HFN President in 2017, the game was dead in Nigeria. There was no viable league and developmental programmes to discover players. The national teams were nowhere as they missed competitions for many years.
Today, handball is back with sponsors working with the federation as age grade and senior national teams are alive again while the league in both male and female cadres are back.
Former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, Otunba Segun Runsewe, Chief Solomon Ogba and Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye are some of the nominees expected to be honoured on March 1st at EKO CLUB under the chairmanship of Chief Segun Odegbami.
