Mr Ama-Ebi Ebikpolade, Representative of the South South at the Board of the Nigerian Table Tennis Federation, NTTF has donated two International Table Tennis Federation, ITTF, standard boards worth about N10 million to Cross River.
Handing the boards over to the Cross River Table Tennis Federation on Tuesday in Calabar, Ebikpolade also promised to refloor the play area in the state noting that what was presently available was not of international standard.
He said not much attention was given to the sports in Nigeria adding that the gesture was a conscious intervention to ensure that cadet players of the sports were groomed.
Ebikpolade who is also the Chairman, Bayelsa State Table Tennis Federation, said similar donations were made in the other South-South states to boost the game.
He, however, stated that Cross River was a pivotal state in Nigerian Table Tennis because it was a state with talented players and had proven this over the years by producing champions.
“We want to develop table tennis in Nigeria, to do this, the first thing that comes to mind is the facilities, when there are no facilities we cannot talk about development.
“As a federation, we are trying to ensure that younger players take over from the older ones who have served the nation by providing equipment and scholarship for some talented cadet players both at home and abroad in Nigeria.
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Receiving the donation on behalf of the state, Mrs Agnes Atsu, Cross River’s Commissioner for Sports said she was very delighted with the facilities.
While calling on well-meaning Nigerians to support sports in the state, she added that the facilities would help in sports development in Cross River.
On his part, Mr Usen Umoh, Vice Chairman of the Cross River Table Tennis Federation who lauded the South-South representative of the sports, said the equipment would help the state produce more talent in the game.
According to him, “At this critical time in the nation, the only thing that can get the youths busy is sporting activities.
“I want to make a passionate appeal to the organised private sector and every Nigerian to support sports because the government alone cannot handle it,” Umoh disclosed.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that table tennis is a major sport that has brought laurels to Cross River with champions such as Offiong Edem who won Nigeria’s first gold medal at the just concluded All Africa Games and Hope Udoaka who also represented Nigeria at the games.
