Engineer Toke Aka National Jubilee Scrabble Championship will be special – Tournament Director, Faruq Baba-Inna
By Maxwell Kumoye
The Tournament Director of Engineer Toke Aka National Jubilee Scrabble Championship holding in Abuja later this month, Umar Faruq Baba-Inna says the event will be of the highest standard but in the quality of play and organization.
Baba-Inna stated that the choice of the venue for the Championship is a strong indication that the Organizers, the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF) wants a competition that will add value to the game of words in the country and beyond.
“The banquet hall of Hotel De Bentley is not only specious but with good lighting and cooling system.” Umar Faruq Baba-Inna stated.
He went on to say that the chairman of the Organizing Committee, Chukwudi Ehibudu is a man who loves and plays the game and he is not leaving any stone unturn in order have a hitch free Championship.
“One important thing I as the Tournament Director will do is to let all the participants know the ground for the championship and encourage them to accord other players respect and display sportsmanship before, during and after each round of games,” Baba-Inna who will take charge of the Pan African Youth Scrabble Championship in August, said.
Meanwhile, the current Champion of Champions, Olatunde Oduwole is the later heavyweight wordsmith that will light up the Engineer Toke Aka National Jubilee Scrabble Championship.
Oduwole, the winner of the maiden edition of IGP National Open and multiple National Sports Festival gold medalist has joined the row call of top players eyeing the top prize.
National Scrabble number one player Nsikak Solomon Etim is expected to grace the Jubilee Scrabble Championship which all the Team Nigeria stars heading to the World Championship are using to shape up for the event.
NSF President’s Diamond Jubilee National Championship has been fixed for the 17th of June at Hotel De Bentley also in Abuja. The Championship has three categories, Masters, Intermediate and Veterans.
The one day National Championship is a 12 rounds of games event, 1 random, 8 lagged and 3 King of the hill pairings with each player having 20 minutes per game and the 2021 Collins Scrabble Words dictionary will be the reference material.
To compete in the Masters event, a player must have 1,300 and above rating catchment points. The Intermediate rating catchment is 1,299 rating points and below.
On the other hand, the Veterans event has no rating catchment requirement.
The Masters event participants will pay 8,000 naira only while players wishing to battle for honours in the Intermediate and Veterans categories are expected to register with 6,000 naira each.
We also gathered that registration for the Special Scrabble Retreat which attracts a token fee of 3,000 Naira and it opened on Monday closes on the 14th of next month and late registration will not be entertained. The registration closing date for players seeking to be part of this unique competition, the Engineer Toke Aka Jubilee National Championship is the 15th of June.
The two-in-one event is open for sponsorship as well as donations.
The Chairman of the Organising Committee also explained that a Special Denominational Service and dinner for the Jubilee Celebration and Tournament has been fixed for the 16th of June at the Hotel De Bentley too.
Chief Engineer Toke Aka Jubilee celebration timeline:
✓ Players registration for both Jubilee Retreat and Jubilee National Championship is already on
✓ Registration for Jubilee Retreat closes June 14th
✓ Jubilee Retreat holds June 15th at Zalika Garden, Garki, Abuja
✓ Registration for Jubilee National Championship closes June 15th
✓ Denomination Service and dinner holds June 16th at Hotel De Bentley, Abuja
✓ Jubilee National Championship – June 17th
✓ Departure of players and guests – June 18th
