Abdulwahab- Omotose, Aka Want Federal Government To Pay Attention To Other Sports.

President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation,Kayode Abdulwahab- Omotose and his scrabble counterpart Toki Aka have appealed to the government at all levels and corporate bodies to pay rapt attention to other sports and stop giving undue favor to football. 

The move according to the sports administrators was to change the face of Nigerian sports and also to pay due attention to Nigerian sports and not football as the trend is viable to demoralize the athletes whose sports have been relegated based on the inability of the government to give them both financial and human support to achieve greater height in their chosen professions.               

Speaking at a different fora in Uyo Akwa Ibom State,Abdulwahab- Omotose and Aka lamented over the ugly trend that has negatively affected  the development of other sports in the country.                                   

The NTTF boss who spoke at the grand finale of the Reach Out Nigeria, R.O.N, table tennis championship sponsored by the Christ Embassy Church, C.E.C,said it was painful that Nigerian government give utmost attention to football at the expense of other sports that have recorded outstanding achievements at international competitions, adding that others sports in spite of its talented athletes find its very hard to attend mandatory championships outside the shore of Nigeria while the nation's football teams feature in all the mandatory football events.

While calling on the Legislatures at all level to make effective changes by creating an enabling environment for all sports to thrive, the former majority leader of Kwara House of Assembly,said Nigeria could avert the calamity that deprived Nigeria from wining a medal at the last concluded London 2012 Olympic Games by according similar financial assistance render to the football authorities in Nigeria.            

 The NTTF, who commended the Federal Government for giving the Nigeria's Under 21 female football team a Million Naira each for placing fourth at the FIFA Under 21 Women Football Championship, said the government should also deem it necessary to motivate athletes in other sports through financial support to propel them to make the country proud while representing the nation in any International competition.

He explained that it was disheartening that the the Federal Government did not consider it important to honor the Federation's table tennis players who won laurels during the 2010 Intercontinental Table Tennis Cup and other International Table Tennis Federation's events, stressing that such event could demoralize the ping pongers since the table tennis and the football players are providing similar service to their father land but in different sports.

"Even when the male and female football teams  receive heavy allowances when they play draw which in itself alone can carry the other sports to the promised land while we don't get five  percent of what they get."                       

Our team has won many laurels in Africa and across the world including the Intercontinental cup in 2010, but our players were not given handshake.                  

Only for the  government to give One million naira each to the female football team that came a distant third at the recent Under 21 championship'.                         

In a similar vein, President of  the Scrabble Federation of Nigeria, Toki Aka, at the banquet hall of Akwa Ibom State Government house, where Governor Godswill Akpabio hosted the officials and 340 players that attended this year's Akpabio International scrabble classics, also complained that Nigerian Chess players were not rewarded for their resounding performance in wining the African title for  nine times out of the ten editions the country has been participating in the tourney.

"Our team has won the African title 9 times out of the 10 past editions it we were  not given any attention, talkless of rewarding them"."Each time we need to go go for competition we have  had to go cap in hand to beg'.                   

The SFN Boss, who was sad over the manner at which other sports are being treated, said athletes from other sports could play a major role by engaging the youths in positive endeavor that make them stay out of social vices, adding that other sports should also have access to direct government subvention as being enjoyed by authorities in charge of football.

 "Football gets direct government  subvention the other sports are in limbo. Aka believed that the other sports could play major role to channel the energy of the youths, engage them positively and stem vices in the society if they were assisted."                               

In his remark Governor Godswill Akpabio who alluded to Aka's speech,said the sad development was one of the reasons why he decided to support the Scrabble Federation of Nigeria by sponsoring the competition on yearly basis with a huge star prize money of Fifteen thousand Dollars($15,000), stressing that scrabble would offer twelve Gold, Twelve Silver and Twelve Bronze medals at the EKO2012 Games as against Football that would provide only one medal.