President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) Daniel Igali in an audio interview has exclusively told www.busybuddiesng.com he is confident Port Harcourt, the capital and largest city of Rivers State, Nigeria will successfully stage a spectacular Senior African Wrestling Championships in February 2018, given the support from Rivers State Government.
The Rivers State capital was in August awarded the hosting right to the tournament ahead of Tunis, meaning Nigeria will be staging the showpiece competition for the first time in her history.
Impressed by a recent facility tour by the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Igali who is the vice-chairman of the LOC believes the Garden City will be ready in time for the Championships.
“I think we will (host a successful tournament), and I will go back to the enthusiasm I’ve seen from the Governor of Rivers State (Nyesom Wike) and from his team,” the Olympic Champion said.
“We have a 13-member Local Organising Committee and I’ve seen that the members are very excited, very determined to ensure that we put up a very befitting tournament.
“The Governor has said that he is not going to leave anything to chance, promising that what we (LOC) need will be provided.
“I know that the finance committee has started reaching out to some sponsors. So we are going to have sponsors, we are going to have quite a number of countries coming to the tournament as well.
“I’m very convinced that we will put up a befitting tournament.”
Before the African Senior Wrestling Championships which runs from 7th – 11th February 2018, Port Harcourt is expected to host the Governor Wike National Wrestling Championships later this month and the Bayelsa State Lawmaker says, that will serve as a dress rehearsal to the big one early next year.
“First of all, the Wike National Championships will be used as a test tournament for the African Championships,” he disclosed.
“For the Nigeria Wrestling Federation, we will be using it as trials to select the team that will represent Nigeria at the Senior African Wrestling Championships in 2018.”
