The Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), in partnership with the Cross River State Ministry of Education and the UNHCR Ogoja Zonal Office, has concluded a two-day badminton outreach training for Physical and Health Education Teachers from 16 secondary schools. The event took place between February 8 and 9, 2024.
The 18 Physical and Health Education Teachers were joined by 52 secondary school students, as well as 19 students/volunteer trainees from the Cameroonian refugee community that reside in the Ogoja local government area.
The event, which was held at the premises of St. Catherine College, Igoli, Ogoja, is aimed at taking the game of badminton to hard-to-reach and underserved members of the community.
The event was powered by the Community Sport and Educational Development (CSED) Initiative, as part of their two-year grassroots badminton development agreement with the BFN.
At the training, the attendees were taught the basics and practical aspects of the game of badminton by Godswill Ifejika, a trained “Shuttle Time” instructor, as well as a Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) accredited umpire. He was supported by Nwachukwu Igwe and Obianuju Eneh.
The BFN, which is one of the most active sporting Federation that promotes grassroots sports development in Nigeria, decided to organise the event to use sport in promoting community integration and peaceful co-existence between the Cameroonian refugees in Adagom, and members of the Ogoja community.
At the end of the training, basic badminton training equipment (rackets, shuttlecocks and nets) was distributed to the representatives of the secondary schools, as well as representatives of the three Cameroonian refugee camps that are located in the Ogoja local government area.
A representative of the Cameroonian community in Ogoja, Ako Allan Agbor, thanked the event organisers, saying that taking part in sports helps to alleviate the trauma of the refugees, and provides them the opportunity to take part in an organised pro-social activity like badminton.
