Unless a miracle happens, Team Nigeria may not participate in this year’s African Scrabble Championships holding in Kigali, Rwanda this month.
The Africa Scrabble Championship now in its 15th edition is the continent’s flagship event featuring the best of African Scrabble players and it is held biennially. This year’s edition coincides with the 30th anniversary celebration of PANASA.
Nigeria has consistently dominated the event, with University of Lagos graduate Enoch Nwali holding the individual title and the country’s contingent claiming the team title in Lusaka, Zambia two years ago.
However, with just 12 days to the commencement of this year’s edition in Kigali, Rwanda on October 23, the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF) is desperately looking for help to sponsor 15 players and four officials to the championship as every appealing to the Federal Ministry of Sports Development for financial support appeared to have landed on deaf ears.
NSF president, Engineer Toke Aka, who disclosed this to LEADERSHIP Sports on Thursday in Abuja, said Nigeria’s players are ready to make Nigeria proud at the championship, but their participation in the event is being hindered due to lack of funds.
“We are always prepared because all year round we always have events.
“The defending champion, Enoch Nwali, is on top of his game and just won the Diri Scrabble Championships. After that there was another event in Lagos, Leki Classic which was won by a Ghanaian and these are the people we are going to face at the African championship which is enough to scare us.
“We want to travel on the 21st and the championship starts on the 23rd but as I’m speaking to you we don’t know how we are going to make it to Kigali. We have written to the Ministry and received no response from them.
“It is unfortunate that Nigeria, the reigning champion with 13 titles under their belt, is facing this kind of challenge all the time to attend African Championships,” Aka said.
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