Abdulraheem Aodu
7 October 2008
Kaduna — Governor Mohammed Namadi Sambo of Kaduna State yester-day urged players of the five national teams participating at the ongoing Commonwealth West African Men Handball Championship to imbibe spirit of sportsmanship in their game.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of the six days inter-national fiesta, Sambo who was represented by Deputy Gover-nor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa said a healthy competition is better than winning at all cost as the essence of sports and game is not to win but to participate.
"As you are about to com-mence the competition, the Sec-retary General of the Common-wealth Handball Association retired Gen. Ishola Williams has called on you to be good sports-man. Let us have a healthy com-petition between the countries participating at the competition.
"This competition would also help in boosting the unity among Economic Communities of West Africa States (ECOWAS) in line with the recent agreement signed by the members of the regional body."
Governor Sambo added that hosting the competition will give the state especially the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the 16th National Sports Festival tagged Kada 2008, the opportu-nity to measure its preparedness for the biennial fiesta. He the-refore expressed his gratitude to the Commonwealth Handball Association and the Nigerian Handball Federation for giving the state the chance to host the West African region.
"We thanked the Common-wealth Handball Association and the Nigerian Handball Federation for giving us the right to host this competition because it would go a long way in help-ing us prepare for the forthco-ming National Sports Festival slated for the state next month. All hands are on deck to ensure success of the festival and this tournament would serve as a measure of what to expect at the festival."
As hosts of the Common-wealth championship, Kaduna State was given wild card to present a team in the tourna-ment.
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