By Modupeola Oyewale
In its bid to expand the scope of weightlifting in Nigeria and discover future champions, the Weightlifting Federation of Nigeria (NWF) has begun grassroots development programme aimed at discovering and nurturing future champions for the sport.
Consequently, the federation recently carried out a demonstration show in Abuja.
The Demonstration which took place at the Lead British International School Gwarinpa, in the Federal Capital Territory, saw students being introduced to the game of weightlifting.
Speaking shortly after the demonstration, President, Nigeria Weightlifting Federation (NWF), Dr Abdul Ibrahim, said the essence of the demonstration which took place during the school’s inter-house competition, is to encourage the children to take to weightlifting sport as a career.
Dr Abdul noted that discovering the children with talents for weightlifting is critical so that when they are nurtured, they will take over from the aging ones.
He described the enthusiasm shown by the students and teachers as commendable, adding that the federation will consolidate on the programme and will soon embark on tour of Nigerian Schools across the country.
“We are looking at catching them young, and no better place to do this than coming to schools, especially when the children are still young, so that we can now begin to build from there.
“We are able to introduce the sport to schools; it’s just the beginning, and it would continue in other schools. Our plan is to tour most schools in the country to introduce the game of weightlifting to the children and even teachers.
“Weightlifting is one of Nigeria’s key sports and it takes one to heights that you can never imagine. We have current and past weightlifters who have done the country proud. Lifters like Lawal Rufiat and Umofia Edidiong are all flying the countries flag globally and have won laurels as well. Right now we are thinking about how the children can go to the global world through weightlifting. Weightlifting has been so wonderful, and I think parents, pupils, and teachers are to learn from it. In the future, many of them would like to be part of the weightlifting in Nigeria and that is why it is critical to introduce them into the game at the young age,” he said.
