Scrabble: Doko leads Team Nigeria To World Championship In Ghana
Current Continental Champion, Oluwatimilehin Doko, heads the list of 15 words warriors who have been carefully selected to represent Nigeria at the forthcoming World English Scrabble Players Association (WESPA), Championship in Accra, the Ghanaian Capital.
The 15 man roster made public by the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), is dominated by 5 wordsmiths from the fearsome 2023 NSF Inter Club Kings, Warri Scrabble Club.
Winner of the 2025 Lekki Scrabble Classics, Abdulmumin Jimoh, is another super heavyweight in the team with serial champion, John Aiyedun, as well as Team Nigeria’s captain to the last West African Scrabble Championships and National Sports Festival gold medallist, Ben Quickpen.
Recently crowned Emmanuel Egbele Annual Scrabble Tournament winner, Emmanuel Umojose, is the powerful head of the Warri Scrabble Club contingent in the Team Nigeria squad.
Others are Tega Okiemute who will be making a return to Accra after his African Games experience, Victor Godwin the winner of the first edition of PANASA President’s Cup.
Hard fighter Larry Etuwa, former African Champion Rex Ogbakpa and the most decorated female scrabble player of all time in Africa, Tuoyo Mayuku, completes the scrabble lords from the fortress of the game of words and mind in Nigeria – Warri.
NSF Green Jacket holder, George Ezinore, Samuel Adebola and Chinedu Thorpe, are other dreaded members of Team Nigeria who will be seeking to write their names in gold in Accra come November this year.
It’s interesting to state that for the first time in the history of Nigeria’s participation at the Scrabble World Championship, two brothers; John and Peter Ebomah will be battling for honours for the country in Accra.
They both secured their places in the team by finishing second and third at the Last Chance National Qualifier in Abuja. John came second with 14 wins from 22 games and a cumulative points of plus 445 while Peter came third with plus 128 cumulative points from the same number of wins.
Oluwatimilehin Doko won the qualifier which was an academic exercise for him with 19 victories and plus 1212 points.
Already players named in the team have been enjoying some quality game time with big time competitions like the Emmanuel Egbele Annual Scrabble Tournament, Lekki Scrabble and the Governor Douye Diri National Championship.
The team will be camping in Lagos ahead of their departure to mother land-Ghana on the 9th of November.
While in camp, members of Team Nigeria will test their might at the one-day maiden edition of Lagos Unified Scrabble Meet at the Poolside Pavilion, Rowe Park Sports Centre, Alagomeji, Yaba.
At the last World Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Team Nigeria came second in the country event and former World Champion Wellington Jighere finished fourth in the individual category.
TEAM NIGERIA SQUAD
( A) Oluwatimilehin Doko – CC
( B) John Aiyedun
(C) George Ezinore
(D)Victor Godwin
(E)Rex Ogbakpa – CC
(F) Abdulmumin Jimoh
(G )Tega Okiemute
(H) Samuel Adebola
(I) Chinedu Thorpe
(J) Emmanuel Umujose
(K ) Larry Etuwa
(L )Ben Quickpen
(M)Tuoyo Mayuku
(N) John Curtis Ebomah
(O) Peter Ebomah
