…As Umar, Yahuza represent Kano
By Muhammad Hamisu Abdullahi
In what can rightly be described as community service and as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) National Taekwando Championship is billed to take place between Tuesday and today in Lagos, the Inclusive Community Education and Development Association (ICEADA) has offered support to the contingents from Kano State.
During the flag off of the support on Sunday at Zawachiki quarters in Kumbotso Local Government Area of the state, the team leader of the association, Prof. Muhammad Bello Shittu of Bayero University, Kano, said the association found it necessary to render such assistance to the athletes in order to their morale during and after the competition.
He said the association would continue to play a great role in nurturing young talents in the Taekwando game. Prof. Shittu added that they were also into promotion of grassroots development by rendering educational support at the grassroots levels, stating that they were using the game to promote sports and youth development as well as health, “as sports is built around health,” he stressed.
According to him, they cherish sports in ICEADA and always collaborate with like minds in sports development, reiterating that sports in itself contributes to human development.
He expressed happiness with his relationship with a Taekwando champion in the state and the nation at large in person of a university Don, Taekwando Coach Ibrahim Yahuza of the Department of Adult Education and Community Services of Bayero University, Kano who led the athletes to the IGP competition in Lagos.
According to Prof. Shittu, Coach Yahuza has won many medals in the past competitions, adding that the Coach did not want his talents to end at such occasions, but he chose to nurture young ones into the game. “He has nurtured a lot of talents, like Coach Gideon, whom himself is also into nurturing young ones to succeed in the game.
I am very happy with the development,” Prof. Shittu stressed. He said as sports could not develop without support from the community and the fact that governments at all levels could not be able to shoulder all the responsibilities around sports, he decided to shower encomiums to the contingents. He however lamented that instead of treating all sports equally, to some extent, the governments direct their attention to foot ball only thereby neglecting others, lamenting further that the strategic plan to develop all sports all the time is not happening in this country.
“They should be responsive in supporting all games,” Prof. Shittu advised, appealing to federal and state governments to look into the matter, stressing that there are talents in the nook and cranny of not only the state, but the country at large.
He used the opportunity to call on Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of the state to make sure that the Ministry of Sports he created is not existing only in name, but working to really support sports development at the grassroots levels.
On the contingents participating in the national competition, he called on them to work towards success in the championship, wishing them the best, assuring them that the support from the association is not the beginning, but they would link them up to other stakeholders for more prosperity.
Prof. Shittu, whose children partake in the sports, urged parents to allow their wards to also take part in sports in view of its immense benefits of building a good career into the younger generation, calling on wealthy individuals to give a helping hand to sports development.
On his part, the leader of the delegation, Coach Ibrahim Yahuza said the IGP Championship was billed to start on July 27 and end on 30th of the same month. Coach Yahuza, a former staff of Kano State Sports Commission, said the event was ninth in its series. He added that they were using Taekwando as a target to develop sports, stating that through the game, they were creating the avenue for it to give children access to sports without any hitch.
He said through the game, they were able to produce athletes that represented the state at other competitions. Also, one of those Coach Yahuza trained in the game, Mr. Gideon Emmanuel Idoko, now a Coach too, confirmed that: “I am an athlete in Kano State who was brought up my master, Ibrahim Yahuza.”
He expressed delight to see younger generation participating in the game, thanking Prof. Shitu for sponsoring the athletes to the championship. He told the gathering that it was Ibrahim Yahuza who trained him up to the level of being a coach himself, calling for financial support to the game from the like minds, describing the gesture as a great privilege as it would boost the morale of the athletes.
Mr. Idoko encouraged young athletes to keep it up as Taekwando is a way to greatness. Two players representing Kano State would participate in the competition with Athlete Abubakar Umar Umar, who won bronze medal in the previous competitions, to play 63-weight male category, while Athlete Aliyu Ibrahim Yahuza, who once won silver medal at a national competition, to compete in 58-weight male category too during the event.
They both vowed to dedicate themselves during the competition, saying that they would not put the state to shame, promising to be good ambassadors of the game and the state. Among those who spoke during the occasion were Dr. Auwalu Halilu, an Adviser on Education and Mobilisation on the board of ICEADA, also a university Don from Department of Adult Education and Community Services of BUK and Musbahu Bala Chediyar Yangurasa of Rahama Radio, a sports journalist.
The duo urged others in the community to emulate what Prof. Shittu did, while they enjoined the athletes to be good ambassadors of the state and ICEADA as well as to cope with all the challenges that may come their way during the championship. They also remarked that having talents in the community is one thing, but harnessing them is another.
