From Our Correspondent
Samuel Jackson, President of the Arm Wrestling Federation of Nigeria says the country has big potential in the sport.
Jackson spoke against the backdrop of Team Nigeria, having won four gold, two silver and seven bronze medals in the arm wrestling event at the 13th African Games.
He said Nigeria is the first country to win gold in arm wrestling in the African Games, as it is the first time the sport featured in the continental Games.
“We were expecting six gold medals, but we won four. We know our areas of strength, fortunately, Nigeria and Ghana are on the same level.
“But, Ghana has done a lot of good work, they won eight gold medals at the Games.
“We have learned lessons from the African Games, which we will take home and prepare for the African Championship taking place in Togo next year,’’ he said.
Jackson, also the President of the African Arm Wrestling Federation, said the federation had a three-year plan to prepare for future championships.
“When we return to Nigeria, we need to build on our capacity on the technical side.
“We will also sensitise our athletes on modern ways in the game to avoid issues we had at the African Games.’’
Jackson said the federation would take the game to schools, especially tertiary institutions.
Currently, he said, Arm Wrestling has become part of the World University Games.
“We should tell our National Universities Games Association (NUGA) to let our undergraduates be part of our story. They are students and their brains are sharp.
“We want some of them (students) to go into officiating and coaching, while we develop other areas for the athletes,” he said.
The President said the federation has been to the University of Lagos to enlighten them on the sport.
Jackson said the Federation would hold a Nigerian open-arm wrestling championship before the end of the year. He added that this would enable it to select good athletes for the African Open Championship in Togo.
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