Abuja—Privileged Nigerians have been called upon to emulate the efforts of Seriake Dickson, Senator representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District on sports development in the country.
Sunday Dare, Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Obinna Ogba, Chairman, Senate Committee on Youths and Sport and the leadership of the Nigerian Wrestling Federation all made the call at the unveiling of the 2021 edition of the Nanaye Dickson Traditional Wrestling Competition in Abuja on Wednesday.
Mangrovepen.ng gathered that the competition is designed to target youths in Bayelsa in a bid to promote grassroots Ijaw traditional wrestling and culture.
The competition will also serve as a talent hunt for the youths of the state.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, highlighted Senator Dickson’s love of sports and its development.
Dare called on members of the National Assembly to emulate the contributions of Senator Dickson to the development of sports in the country.
He urged them to identify and focus development on a particular sports that has prevalence of talents in their respective areas in order to produce a new generation of talented athletes in the country.
The minister recalled how the Federal Government adopted the annual wrestling classic initiated by Senator Dickson as a national event.
He stressed that the government would take a cue from the Senator in the area of recognizing and identifying sports legends for honour in the country.
In his remarks, Senator Dickson said that his interest in sports and commitment to its development remain the same even after his time as Governor of Bayelsa State.
He recalled that his administration built a sports academy, sponsored a football tournament known as the Restoration Cup for eight years and the Nanaye Dickson Wrestling Classic which was adopted by the Federal Ministry of Sports.
Senator Dickson noted that the event was organized to honour Bayelsa wrestlers who dominate the sport not only in Nigeria but also on the African continent, stressing that Bayelsa has the highest concentration of wrestling champion.
The former Governor revealed that the Henry Seriake Foundation, which unveiled the Nanaye Dickson Wrestling Tournament, is also the sponsor of the ongoing community based grassroots football competition, the Ofuruma Pepe Cup which involves 100 teams and 1000 young boys.
His words, “As you all know, as governor of Bayelsa, I did my best to promote sports in all its ramifications. We established a sports academy, we have several young people who are receiving both academic training as well as exposure to sports development that is taking place even now.
“For eight years, we also sponsored a football tournament known as the Restoration Cup and the products of that initiative are all over the world, and I want to thank my team for that. We also sponsor the wrestling classic named after me and my father.
“I’m grateful that your predecessor and you adopted our wrestling classic as a national classic. All the wrestlers in our country assemble there in readiness for international competitions.”
Senator Obinna Ogba, Chairman of the occasion and Chairman, House Committee on Youths and Sports, in his remarks, called on politicians to emulate Senator Dickson stressing that no money invested in sports development would be a waste.
He averred that he was not surprised that the former Governor decided to sustain his interest and investment in sports development even after leaving office because “sports investment means investing on ones self and the youths.”
The first Governor of old Rivers State and Chairman, Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers, King Alfred Diete Spiff, the Amayanabo of Twon Brass, commended Senator Dickson for the initiative to promote wrestling which he described as the joy of the Ijaw man.
Hon. Daniel Igali, President of the Wrestling Federation was represented by the Vice President, Mr Christopher Amkpila. He commended Senator Dickson for his support and development of sports in the country.
Highpoint of the event was the presentation of bank drafts of N2 million to Bayelsa born Olympic Silver medalist, Ms. Blessing Oborodudu and N500,000 to her Coach, Mr. Victor Kode.
The Nanaye Dickson Traditional Wrestling Tournament is an annual sporting event organized in 2012, in honour of the memory of the Senator Dickson’s late father, a community leader, an unbeaten wrestling champion and promoter of the game in his time.
