by The Ajasa News | February 11, 2020 6:59 am
By Martin Odiete, Abuja
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai has promised to give more support to the development and growth of sports in the Nigerian Army.
Buratai gave this assurance while addressing members of the Nigerian Army sports men and women who had excelled at various local and international sporting engagements recently.
He congratulated the athletes for their brilliant performance which as he noted, has brought pride and honour to the Nigerian Army. He further pledged more support to sporting activities in the Nigerian Army in line with his vision which is “To have a Professionally Responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of it’s Constitutional Roles”.
A statement by the Nigerian Army on Monday outlined the various success recorded so far by the Nigerian Army in recent championships, citing particularly at the just concluded African Wrestling Championships in Algiers, Algeria between 4 – 8 February 2020. Lance Corporal Hannah Reuben was visibly dominant in the 65kg category where she overpowered home girl Amel Hammiche 12-1 via superiority in the final match to reclaim her African title
The statement read thus, “It is gratifying to report that a Nigerian Army female athlete, Lance Corporal Hannah Reuben was among the athletes that represented Nigeria at the just concluded African Wrestling Championships in Algiers, Algeria between 4 – 8 February 2020. Lance Corporal Hannah Reuben, who was sponsored to the Championships by both the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sport and the Nigerian Wrestling Federation, was visibly dominant in the 65kg category where she overpowered home girl Amel Hammiche 12-1 via superiority in the final match to reclaim her African title. She and other medalists in the team are billed to represent Nigeria in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with high optimism for a medal.
The statement continued, “In another national sporting event, the second Rivers National Open Karate and Kick Boxing Championship held from 29 January – 2 February 2020 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Team Nigerian Army also led the rest of the contingents by emerging overall first position with 10 Gold, 5 Silver and 6 Bronze medals asserting their superiority in the tournament. Team Edo emerged 2nd with 10 Gold, 4 Silver and 2 Bronze medals while Team Akwa-Ibom came 3rd with 4 Gold, 3 Silver and 4 Bronze medals in the same tournament.
“Similarly, a team of Nigerian Army athletes comprising 12 male and 6 female soldiers participated in the just concluded 5th Annual Lagos City Marathon held on Saturday 8th February 2020 in Lagos. The young Nigerian Army athletes competed among Africa’s and the world’s best in both the 42-kilometer Marathon and 10-kilometer races with high spirit and enthusiasm. The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai flagged off the historic event at the National Stadium, Surulere Lagos with over 50,000 athletes drawn from across the world to compete in the 2 categories vying for glory.
“The outstanding performance displayed by the Nigerian Army team was a source of pride for the Nigerian Army with the clinching of 9 individual cash prizes in the 42 kilometer, 10 kilometer male and female categories. It is heart-warming to note that, in the Male category of the 42 kilometer Marathon, Private Solomon Dauda and Lance Corporal Raymond Nanribel won the 7th and 10th positions respectively. Also, in the male category of the 10 kilometer race, Private Ibrahim Mubarak, Lance Corporal Nuhu Mohammed and Corporal Sunday Gontori clinched the 5th, 6th and 9th positions respectively while in the female category of the 10 kilometer race, Private Adewale Hannah, Lance Corporal Naomi Yunana, Private Veronica Dechi and Private Ebenezer Joy put up a superlative performance to clinch the 6th, 8th, 12th and 16th positions respectively to do the Nigerian Army proud.
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