Excitement as CCSF, French Embassy reignite Paris 2024 experience in Abuja

Over 90 persons took part at a one-day post Paris 2-24 Olympics workshop organised by the Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation in conjunction with the French Embassy held at the Springhall British School in Abuja.

The aim of the workshop, according to the organsers, was to inspire young athletes and educate them about the Olympics, self defence and taekwondo.

In the first part of the workshop, 40 girls from the secondary school were taught self-defence techniques, including the importance of environmental awareness, techniques and the legal use of self-defence.

The practice session, supervised by Olympic medalist, Chika Chukwumerije, included defence against attacks to the face and how to react when being held against will.
The second half of the workshop had 50 kids from primary schools learning inspirational stories about the Olympics before being taught about the Olympics and taekwondo.

The kids learnt about the Olympic motto, creed, flag meaning, Olympic cycles and sports in the Olympics as well as life lessons about Olympians like legendary gymnast Simone Biles of USA, the inspirational Eric Moussambani of Equitorial Guinea, revolutionary Dick Flosbury of USA and Nigeria’s Taekwondo icon, Chika Chukuwmerije.

In the introduction to taekwondo, the kids were taught the etiquettes of the sport, as well as the rules, equipment and scoring procedures, one of the current core sports at the Olympics.

Speaking at the workshop, Attaché to the French Embassy in Nigeria, Magaly Losange, lauded the impact of the programme on the participants and others present, including observers from the French Embassy and Institute Francais.

“It was wonderful. I did personally learn a lot. It was really exciting to see the kids so happy and very engaged. We hope that they will be inspired and be more interested in the pleasure of doing sports. It is not always easy to keep the kids focused but I saw that till the very end, they were very much engaged and had so much fun,” the French Embassy Attaché said.

“We asked different sportsmen and women to come up with a programme that would celebrate the values of the Olympics, and also provide an environment to learn and educate the kids. When we receive a programme from Mr Chukwumerije, we were not only impressed by his credentials, but by the fact he was able to put together a programme that will help the kids to better understand the history of the Olympics and at the same time to learn about Taekwondo,” the attache added.

Explaining the decision to hold the workshop, Olympic medalist, Chukwumerije, said: “I accepted to do this programme because I knew it would add a lot of educational values to kids and inspire the young people.

“I loved this kind of impact, so, I was very happy to see the eyes of the kids light up as we spoke about the different challenges of Olympians and how they overcame it. If anyone stops these kids and asks them about the Olympics and taekwondo, they will give a knowledgeable answer. This makes me happy.”

On the self-defense lessons for the secondary school girls, Chukwumerije insisted on the importance of self defense training for all females.

“Ignorance leads to a lot of pain. There are so many simple things that females should know that will help prevent being in situations of being assaulted and bullied,” he said.

The workshop lasted for three hours across two segments with participants flooding for pictures and autographs after a successful completion of the programme.