By Hananeel Jackson
After making the nation proud in the just concluded Africa U-19 International Table Tennis Federation ITTF championship in Tunisia Samuel Boboye returned to Bayelsa a with rousing welcome amidst celebration.
The jubilant crowd stormed the Samson Siasia Stadium Yenagoa with drums and trumpets alongside members of Bayelsa State Sports Council and sports enthusiasts with solidarity songs and dancing.
Nigeria halted the dominance of Egypt in the team events of the 2022 ITTF Africa Youth Championships as the West Africa team claimed the boys’ U-19 title at the expense of the North Africans to earn Nigeria a place in the 2022 ITTF World Youth Championships WYC.
Speaking at the reception, Director of Sports Bayelsa State Sports Council, Sir Braveman Wodi, said he was happy seeing him dominate Africa in just a space of two years as a table tennis player after participating in the National Youth Games.
Sir Wodi while thanking the Ama-Ebi Ebikpolade for his unalloyed contributions to see that Bayelsa is ranked among table tennis state in the country, noted that the State is committed to support the table tennis sensation to achieve his desires.
The Director pointed out that he was not surprised at Samuel Boboye’s superlative outing in Tunisia because Bayelsa State in the last two years has received global attentions as a result of the state government commitment to rewrite the history of Nigeria with Sports.
He explained that the history of sports in Nigeria was incomplete without Bayelsa State recounting the outstanding displays Bayelsans who have represented the nations at the international level in all sports, describing Bayelsa as the hub of sports.
The Odi born administrator opined that the secret of Bayelsa State Sports was because square pegs are placed in their positions for the sports sector to achieve its aims, calling on other well meaning Bayelsans to invest in sports.
In a remark, Chairman Bayelsa State Table Tennis Association and South-South Zonal Representative on the board of Nigeria Table Tennis Federation NTTF Ama-Ebi Ebikpolade said plans are ongoing for Samuel Boboye to move to France to complement his table tennis career with education.
Ebikpolade noted that his aim as the state table tennis chair is to make Bayelsa State the headquarters of table tennis in Nigeria, stating that there are more table tennis stars in the state that are yet to be discovered.
He asserted that in five years time that Bayelsa would be a force to reckon with in table tennis in Nigeria, urging parents to encourage their children to play the game.
The State boss thanked his vice chairman Mr Ranami Igrubia for the financial support he has rendered to the association.
In an interview the ITTF champions Samuel Boboye commended the chairman of the table tennis association and his vice for crucial role they have played in his life to earn global recognition, pointing out that his target is to give Bayelsa State good representation in the National Sports Festival in Asaba Delta State.
The 18 years old Boboye who hails from Ekeremor Town in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State believes that with continuous hard work and training, he is sure of representing Nigeria in the Olympics games in the future.
Earlier in a remark secretary of state Table Tennis Association Daniel Tukuru said the association was consolidating on the state government’s drive towards sports development.
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