West Africa Scrabble Championships: Team Nigeria targets dominant outing in Ghana

By Ifeanyi Eduzor

Nigeria’s scrabble team has set its sight for a total dominance at the fist West African Scrabble Championships slated for Accra Ghana from May 14-19.

Nigeria will compete alongside hosts Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Gambia and having established itself among the elite nation in the sport, the  team which had world number three, Wellington Jighere and Olatunde Oduwole, Nigeria’s top-ranked player, among its brightest medal hopefuls, is poised for a successful outing at the former Gold Coast.

“We have our reputation and pride at stake and we are not underrating other countries hence we had a close camp from which our very best players were selected for the championship., Nigeria Scrabble Federation president Toke Aka said .

He however appealed for support towards the team as its plan to attend the tournament by air is threatened by shortage of funds.

‘We need about N8 million for the championship but as things stand, we are likely to go by road which is very unsuitable. We are hoping to get  support even though we have a very short time.

Apart from Jighere, who was a former world champion, in-form Oduwole who sits atop the national ranking as well as the  likes of Eta Karo who is the world number four, Emmanuel Umujose and Victor Godwin would also be on the spotlight.

Aka added that a dominant outing would further enhance Nigeria’s position in the sport with more of the nation’s players projected to move up in the global rankings which currently has seven Nigerians in the top 20.