Bayelsa State to host National Scrabble Championship
One of the biggest and richest scrabble event in Africa, the Governor Douye Diri National Championship has been scheduled to hold next month in the Oil-rich coastal city of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State Capital.
Newstap.com.ng understands that the Main Organizing Committee (MOC), of the Governor Douye Diri National Scrabble Championship have confirmed that the fourth edition will start on the 23rd and end on the 25th of August 2024.
The three-day Championship, which usually attracts the finest and most talented and equally gifted wordsmith in Nigeria and the rest of the world will take place at the Chief Dappa Biriye Conference Centre of the Golden Tulip Hotel at Onopa, Yenagoa.
Chairman of the Bayelsa State Scrabble Association (BYSA), Mr. Daniel Alabrah, confirmed the new dates after consultations with the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF).
The BYSA chairman said the championship was earlier scheduled for July 27 and 28 but had to be shifted due to logistics reasons.
Alabrah said preparations were on to deliver a hitch-free tournament and one of the best since it began in 2021.
This edition will feature five categories: Masters, intermediate, veterans, opens and students based in Bayelsa State.
There are also special prizes for female players.
6.5 million has been set aside as prize money with the Most Valuable Player in the Masters category smiling home with a princely sum of 750,000 naira and a trophy.
“The Governor Diri Scrabble Championship has become the biggest tournament on the NSF calendar and attracts the country’s top players that are dominating the local, African and international circuit,“ Alabrah said.
He further emphasized that this edition has a bigger prize money than the three previous ones.
“This Season 4 promises to be bigger as the prize money has been raised to N6.5 million for the top four categories. Winner of the Masters will take home the star prize of N750,000 and a giant trophy. This prize was N500,000 in the previous three editions,” he said.
African scrabble champion, Enoch Nwali who recently won the Ultimate Scrabble Showdown won the Masters category last year.
The BYSA chairman commended Governor Diri’s passion for all-round sports development, which has seen Bayelsa become a sporting hub in the South-South geopolitical zone and indeed the whole country.
He said the governor continues to encourage and develop other sports apart from football and that the state reaps the benefits in its outstanding performance at major national competitions.
Alabrah further added that the registration and other details will be communicated through the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), and other Scrabble platforms on social media.
