The General Manager of Niger State Transport Authority (NSTA) and a member of the state badminton association, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdulhamid Mula has said that the ongoing first edition of Gov Mohammed Umar Bago badminton championship has lived up to expectations as a lot of hidden talents have been discovered.
Alhaji Ibrahim Mula made this disclosure while speaking to sports Journalists, at the Minna Sports Club complex, the venue of the badminton championship.
He disclosed that it was over 30 years since something similar was organized in Niger state where badminton players across the local government areas of the state were gathered to compete for honours, with the main aim of discovering hidden talents.
Ibrahim Mula who is also a veteran of the badminton game assured that the new talents discovered would be nurture and supported to become stars just like Aliyu Shehu who is the number two Badminton player in Nigeria.
He said some of them who were veterans of the game supports the younger players not only in things that had to do with the game but including their education and general well-being.
“We support the younger players in their lives endeavours, not just about the game of badminton. There are some of them who the chairman, Alhaji Nma Kolo in particular do carter for their education, medical bills and other personal needs to encourage them to focus on the game. Some of them are even orphans,” he added.
The veteran also added that any child who shows interest of playing the game they takes care of him and gives him all the necessary support to be focus on the game, saying through such gesture the children were engaged and they have no time for social vices like some of their peers.
He also called on youths in the state to embrace any sport of their choice and engaged themselves in it, instead of roaming the streets and constituting neusance.
Similarly, the state chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Comrade Garba Bala Kontagora who is also a veteran of the badminton game, said they want to produce a pool of badminton players who will represent not only the state but also the country in international tournaments.
He added that they want to see how they can produce players that would take over from aging ones as they exit the stage to join the veterans club, saying the game assist the veterans to exercise their body and burn some fats.
