The acting Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN),  Olukayode Ariwoola, has unveiled the trophy for the 28th Judiciary Staffers Games scheduled for Lokoja.

Newsmen report that the National Sports Association for Judiciary (NASAJ) would hold from Aug. 17 to 27 in Lokoja.

Ariwoola, who was represented by the state  Acting Chief Judge,   Josiah Majebi, unveiled the trophy at the premises of the State High Court, on Wednesday in Lokoja,

The CJN described the trophy as a ‘trophy of unity’ designed to foster unity among the judiciary staffers across the federation.

The CJN commended Gov. Yahaya Bello for hosting the competition and for the security and hospitality enjoyed by the participants.

He encouraged the organisers and participants to play by the rules and regulations of the game, so as to achieve the desired success.

The President of NASAJ, Emeka Ndilli, said the competition was founded in 1994 while  Kogi hosted in 2016 and now in 2022 within the space of six years.

Ndili expressed gratitude to the good people of the state  for their hospitality and the Governor for accepting to host the games within a few years interval.

On his part, the state’s Commissioner for Sports,  Idris Musa, appreciated NASAJ for considering the state for hosting the games in 2016 and  2022.

He  assured  participants of good hospitality from the good people of Kogi, adding that the state was safe. (NAN)

Ganon Baker, an international high-performer basketball trainer has called for more technical basketball academies in Nigeria to raise the standard of the game.

Baker made the call on Monday in Abuja at a week-long training clinic for Nigerian coaches and players organised by Sports Renaissance Africa Partners (SRAP).

The renowned U.S certified coach with over 30 decades of experience in the game, stressed the need for technical and systematic coaching to nurture the abundant basketball talents in the country.

He said his visit to Nigeria was to teach kids, players and coaches the rudiments of the game and how to win basketball championships.

” I see a lot of talents in Nigeria but they are unpolished, they are inexperienced, they are not secure, unbelievable talents, but it comes down to coaches, to nurture them that is why we are here.

“If you have good coaches, you are going to have good players, if you don’t have good players may be coaches don’t give them enough information.

“My experience with African players is that they’re very humble and hungry to win,” he said.

Baker said with proper coaching and exposure, a lot more Nigerian players can make it to the U.S National Basketball Association (NBA).

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of SRAP, Relindis Mbu said the clinic is aimed at leveraging on the wealth of tactical experience of Baker to help develop young talents and Coaches in Nigeria.

“The real goal of our project is to give tactical training to coaches so they can transfer it and build eco system of basketball in the world, Africa and Nigeria.

“The end goal is technical expertise that will bring our athletes to international standard so that they can excel locally and internationally in any where they are.” she said.

Baker is one of the most respected premier basketball skill coaches in the World, he is renowned with working with the NBA, WNBA, CBA, Euro League, NCAA, NJCAA, U Sports among others.(NAN)

Nigeria’s Under-20 National Women’s Football Team (Falconets) defeated  South Korea 1-0 on Sunday in their Group C Match Day Two of the ongoing FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.

The News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) report that the Falconets got a vital boost at the Estadio Alajuela Morera Soto Stadium with the defeat of the South Koreans to reach the knock-out round.

The Falconets also got off to a winning start on Thursday with a 1-0 win over highly-rated France.

However,  the South Koreans shot to the top of the group when they beat Canada 2-0.

Falconets got on a sound footing with excellent passes to the admiration of few spectators but no goal to show for their display in the first half of the match.

They started very well, but their Korean opponents grew into the game, and even hit the post from a free kick but the Nigerian girls held on.

Both teams played almost all their tactics and skills all to no avail in the pursuit of a goal that never came

The Falconets dominated  possession with 64 per cent as against the South Koreans’ 36 per cent.

Both teams continued from where they stopped with the Falconets dominating  in the second half of the game .

Esther Onyenezide finally scored for the Falconets in the 83rd minute  of the game for the winning goal.

Nigeria will be up agsinst Canada on Aug.19 in their next match.

NAN reports that the victory lifted Falconets to the knockout rounds of the World Cup even before a final group game against Canada.

The Falconets were paired in Group C along with France, South Korea  and Canada.

Meanwhile, in another match played earlier in Group D, Japan defeated Ghana 2-0.

The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, which started  on Aug. 10, is expected to end on 28 in Costa Rica.(NAN)