Tug-of-war federation re-elects president, officials

Isaac Osaikhiwe Isaac has been re-elected president of the Tug-of-War Federation.

At the eighth yearly meeting of the federation held at the conference room of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), National Stadium, Lagos, at the weekend, the body also elected other members of the board, including Bashir Abubakar, who was elected the vice president.

In his acceptance speech, Osaikhiwe thanked the delegates for their trust and confidence in his executive and pledged to work harder to make the sport a rallying point for talent discovery.

He gave an account of his stewardship in his first tenure, saying that the outgone board made some landmark achievements, including the inauguration of associations in various states across the country.

He listed the new bodies as FCT Abuja, Bayelsa, Kano, Kebbi and Kwara states, among others, adding that the current executive would focus on positioning the sport as a scoring event at the National Sports Festival and participating in international events.

He also said that efforts were being made to introduce the sport to schools in pursuit of the federation’s grassroots agenda.

The AGM was declared open by NOC’s Secretary General, Babatunde Popoola, who was accompanied by the Public Relations Officer, Tony Nezianya.

Other members of the new executive committee of the federation are Rear Admiral Etop Ebe (second vice president), Babatoba Samuel (technical director), Shola Ogundele (treasurer), Jude Iduh (national coach), Tombiri James (asst. national coach) and Raymond Akparuere (PRO).

Also in the new board are Ibrahim Umah, Jennifer Udeh, Daniel Ohioma and Musa Abdullahi, while Abdulkareem A. Macaulay was returned as the Sec. Gen/ International Representative.

Earlier, while declaring the AGM open, Popoola commended the board for the peace and discipline that have existed in the Tug-of-War Federation for the past years, thus making it attractive to the armed forces and paramilitary bodies. He urged them not to relent in their effort towards ensuring that the sport is spread all over the country with democratic principles.

Popoola reminded them of the challenges associated with sports management and expressed confidence in their ability to surmount these challenges.