Scrabble: Team Nigeria will be calling the shots at the AYSC, says NSF boss Toke Aka

President of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation of Nigeria (NSF), Engr. Chief Olobatoke Aka, has assured the nation that ‘Team Nigeria’ will be calling the shots, at the second edition of the Africa Youth Scrabble Championship, (AYSC).

He gave this strong assurance in an interview with newstap.com.ng , stating that Nigeria will be dictating the pace at the highly anticipated continental showpiece.

“The goal is for us to dominate as we have been dominating in the adult scrabble. The goal is for us to also show our talent, because we are naturally inclined to play good scrabble in the world, the whole world knows us for feat, so we don’t want the youths to be left behind,” he said.

Chief Toke Aka explained, that in order to ensure a successful outing , the Federation picked some of the best young scrabble players to represent the country at the event.

“One unique thing about the team is that the players are the best and were selected after rigorous competitions,” he emphasized.

Defending champions, Nigeria will be calling the shots in Kenya with a 7 man squad, featuring 3 females and 4 males.

Captain Sufyan Boluwatife Olojoku, a fierce and tactical scrabbler, will be leading the team in the East African country, alongside Joy Nwabuzor, Abdulqudus Aliu, Hassan Olojoku, Prestige Archibong, Sophia ⁠Ekeruche and Eliana Igbe.

The NSF President further emphasized that although Nigeria is not fielding a large team, they are good enough to do the country proud at the championship.

“There are more prizes than we are fielding players but I’m 99 percent sure that the number we are taking to the championship will definitely win prizes,” he said.

He expressed deep joy and excitement in the squad, adding that the Team is a product of years of hardwork by the federation in developing Scrabble among the youths.

“I feel highly elated and fulfilled, for some time now, we have been concentrating more on adult scrabble, but the time has come now for the youths to also shine. This is so because in the last few years we’ve been developing youth scrabble, because we also need a feeder for the adult Scrabble, it makes me feel highly elated that we were able to compete at the second edition of the Africa Youth Scrabble Championship,” he explained.

He went further to add that various schools, that accepted the game of words and minds, were part of the building blocks of the team.

“I’ve never been to any school and talked about Scrabble to a principal or Head Master of the school and they refuse to take it up, because Scrabble is a game that will make you spell words correctly because if you spell bad words on the board you’ll lose your turn.

” You also need arithmetical skills to be able to play scrabble very well because it is a game where you play words, you count, you add you multiply, at the same time, we don’t use calculators for all of this , so you must learn how to do all of them.

” So I don’t see any Principal that will say, don’t introduce Scrabble in my school, which makes it an easy sell to schools, it’s something that supposed to be added to the curriculum of schools, as a play way method of learning,” he noted.

He highlighted that the mind game, not only serves as a source of exposure, but can also serve as a huge source of money in the future.

“Youth scrabble is easier to sustain than adult scrabble, because people have more compassion for the youths than the adults, maybe because we believe adults can take care of themselves.

We are hopeful that with the high level of exposure the youths are having, they will not depart from it they have started rightly and are beginning to win laurels, unless the unexpected happens in the near future, I see them winning more laurels,” he stressed.

He called on the government and other kind hearted individuals to throw their weight behind the game, affirming that it helps engage youths and stimulate their mind.

“The government already knows that Nigerian scrabble is, strong, it’s just for them to be able to say, of we are giving ten naira to football, let’s give naira one to scrabble because we don’t need more than one percent of what is being given for Scrabble to thrive, we will do Nigeria more proud than even football does,” he stressed..

The Africa Youth Scrabble Championship (AYSC) is a biennial continental competition for young scrabble enthusiasts, organized by the Pan African Scrabble Association (PANASA), and is scheduled to take place from August 14th to 17th, 2025, at Brighton International School in Syokimau, Machakos County, Kenya.

The championship will feature two categories: U-15 and U-19, with 150 players from 11 countries expected to participate.