Pro -wrestling will thrive in Benin Republic – Nonvignon

Photo: Director of Sports Benin Republic, Okey Christophe Nonvignon and scribe of Pro- Wrestling Africa, Sesan Olukoya

Director of Sports/ Sports Training (Dsfs) in Benin Republic, Okry Christophe Nonvignon has expressed confidence that professional wrestling
will grow and develop very well in the country.
He based his conviction on plans already put on ground to promote the grunt and groan game in the country, noting that as a first step, a committee has been set up to midwife the establishment of the game in Benin Republic.
Nonvignon stated this when the Secretary General of the Pro -Wrestling Africa (PWA) Olusesan Olukoya visited the Beninese Director visited him in his office recently.
At a meeting held at a short distance from the Marina Palace in Cotonou City where a 30-metre-high monument called the Benin Amazone stands, the Sports Director welcomed the continental wrestling organization scribe in appreciation for making it to Cotonou all in an effort to see to how professional wrestling can be established in that country
“I must have to commend you for visiting my country to rob minds with us on how to start professional wrestling in this part of the world and I can assure you, there’s no going back on that.
“As a first step, we’ve been able to set up a committee to see to the establishment of professional wrestling in Benin Republic because we don’t want to be left behind in this moving train’’, he stressed
The Sports Director was full of appreciation to Golden Boy and his wrestling body the Golden Wrestling Federacy based in Florida, USA for his donation of T-shirts, face caps, wrist bands and the Golden coins while also promising that Benin would definitely be represented at the 2024 Pro- Wrestling training of West African athletes scheduled to hold in Lome, Togo.
The President/CEO of the Golden Wrestling Federacy (GWF), Dr. James McDowell “The Golden Boy” has said that his body is set and ready to take pro wrestling crusade training in Africa to the next level with the first of its kind professional wrestling training with West African athletes to start with.
“I have the heritage of Benin Republic and Togo both in West Africa in my gene. At GWF, we are indeed glad that we would be kick starting a project in West Africa my origin, in six months’ time. There’s no place like home and I am indeed glad to be going back to my source’’ Golden Boy explained.
Traditional kokulé wrestling is an arm of local wrestling and very popular in Benin and bringing in those home based talents to pro- wrestling will make Benin stand out in the game as they are talented, muscular and acrobatically ready to become pro -wrestlers.
The international traditional wrestling festival kokulé dilla 2022 held a year ago attracted fighters from Togo and Benin and they demonstrated how much they are holders of this ancestral heritage; given the different techniques of traditional kokulé wrestling that they presented to the new generation of wrestlers.
The Republic of Benin from north to south is a long stretched country in West Africa, situated on the East of Togo and west of Nigeria.
It is bordered to the north by Burkina Faso and Niger, in south by the Bight of Benin, in the Gulf of Guinea. Though soccer, is the most popular sport in Benin, governed by the Benin Football Federation, the Benin national football team (Les Ecureuils) joined both FIFA and CAF in 1969 when the nation was still Dahomey.
Dahomey became Benin in 1975 and other sports are gradually gaining prominence in that small nation.
The official capital of Benin Republic is Porto-Novo, but Cotonou is Benin’s largest city, with its chief port, and its de facto administrative capital.
It is a fact that this small country in West Africa was once the center of a powerful regional kingdom called the Kingdom of Dahomey as the small nation of about 13 million people is becoming more and more eager to honour its historical heroes and heritage.