The Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, has hailed the new board of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, NCF, led by Emeka Onyeama for embarking on a positive drive to popularize the game of cricket in Nigeria.
Abdullahi, who was a special guest at a warm up match between the Nigerian Senior National Cricket team and the Asian Eleven on Sunday in Abuja, also reiterated his desire to back the new cricket board by sponsoring the Senior National Cricket team to the upcoming World Cricket League six tournament in Jersey, United Kingdom.
“I must say that your president and other board members deserve commendations for being able to organize this kind of friendly match just few weeks after they were elected.
“Also, if this is the first time a minister of sports is witnessing a cricket event in Nigeria, I think they deserve commendation for being able to bring the minister here.
“If Nigeria’s population is anything to go by, I don’t think we should be a one sport country. For me, whether it is cricket or taekwondo or netball or football, they deserve equal attention and the least that a minister like me can do is to give encouragement to all sports federations,” the minister added.
NCF President, Emeka Onyeama, promised that the Nigerian Senior National Cricket team will not disappoint Nigerians at the world cricket league six tournament in the United Kingdom. They are grouped along Argentina, Bahrain, Kuwait and Januotu. It is holding from 21st to 28th July, 2013.
Also, NCF MediaOfficer and board member, Kayode Adeniyi revealed that they have concluded plans to introduce the game of cricket at the primary and secondary school levesl in Nigeria.
“What we have concluded to do as a board is to go to the grassroots to popularize the game so it could be widely accepted by Nigerians,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Senior National Cricket Team Scored 201 for 5 wickets in 30 overs to beat the Asian Eleven which could only managed 48 runs in 17.3 overs on the day.
In May, the Nigeria Senior National Cricket Team, won the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division 7 in Botswana, an equivalent of the football’s Africa Cup of Nations, to qualify to play in next month’s World Cricket League Division 6 in the UK.
