By Godwin Otang
Not less than 18 secondary school teachers and 52 students in Cross River State have been trained by the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) in partnership with the Cross River State Ministry of Education and the UNHCR in Ogoja Local Government Area of the State.
Held at the premises of St. Catherine College, Igoli, Ogoja Local Government Area, which also doubles as the Zonal Office of Badminton BFN on 8th to 9th February 2024 was organized for Physical and Health Education (PE) Teachers from 16 secondary schools.
Organizers said the aim is to take the game of badminton to hard-to-reach and underserved members of the community.
Among the 18 PE teachers and 52 secondary school students, 19 volunteer trainees from the Cameroonian refugee community in Ogoja LGA were part of the exercise.
The exercise was powered by the Community Sport and Educational Development (CSED) Initiative, as part of their two-year grassroots badminton development agreement with the BFN.
Attendees were taught the basics and practical aspects of the game of badminton by Godswill Ifejika; who is a trained “Shuttle Time” instructor, as well as a Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) accredited umpire. He was supported by Nwachukwu Igwe and Obianuju Eneh.
BFN further noted that the training is geared towards promoting community integration and peaceful co-existence amongst the Cameroonian refugees in Adagom and members of the Ogoja community.
Basic badminton training equipment (rackets, shuttlecocks, and nets) was distributed to the representatives of the secondary schools, as well as representatives of the three Cameroonian refugee camps that are located indigents in Ogoja.
In an interview, the representative of the Cameroonian community in Ogoja, Ako Allan Agbor, thanked the event organizers, as taking part in sports helps to alleviate the trauma of the refugees and will provide them with the opportunity to take part in an organized pro-social activity like badminton.
However, Ako Allan Agbor re-echoed the yearnings of the other attendees for government agencies and NGOs to take capacity-building programs for marginalized groups and residents of rural areas in Nigeria.
A representative of the Cross River State Ministry of Education, Mr. Francis Odey urged the PE teachers, the students, and members of the Cameroonian community to “strive to put into good use the training” that they have received from the BFN trainers.
