By Patrick Omorodion

Exactly a week ago, the annual Governor Akpabio International Scrabble Classics ended in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital. Since then, words of praise have not ceased from the mouths of all those who participated in the competition for Governor Godswill Akpabio, sponsor of the world class event.

Both Nigerians, including those visiting from various countries, as well as foreigners from Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and England have spoken and written about the wonders Governor Akpabio is doing in Akwa Ibom, Uyo in particular.

They wondered if the governor is not a Nigerian to have the kind of mind to do what he is doing for Akwa Ibom in the area of infrastructure, a feat alien to most Nigerian politicians whose only reason for veering into politics is to amass wealth at the expense of the common man.

What Governor Akpabio is doing for Akwa Ibom is not the thrust of this piece today but what he is doing for Nigerian scrabble and the players who now look forward every year to Uyo because of the competition regarded as the most rewarding scrabble competition  in the world going by the prize money.

Going by Nigerian ranking, scrabble is one of the so-called lesser sports which gets little or no subvention from the National Sports Commission, NSC. Even when the NSC tried to concession the federation a few years ago, it got into a wrong hand who thought that there was easy government money to siphon.

Scrabble Federation of Nigeria is one federation which does not depend on the NSC funds to carry out its activities. It is also the only federation that has competition almost all the months of the year, the Governor Akpabio Scrabble Classics being its biggest.

The prize money for the just concluded Classics in Uyo was close to N12 million with players in the Masters Category sharing N5, 550,000 among themselves. The Intermediate Category had a total of N2, 710,000, Opens Category got N1, 6550,000, Veterans Category had N1,690,000 while the female Category had N130,000.

If one considers that all these prize money does not include the money spent for other logistics for the organisation of the competition which lasted three days, then Nigerians and sports lovers in particular would appreciate what Governor Akpabio is doing for Nigerian sports men and women every year. Interestingly, the prize money keeps increasing every year.

Governor Akpabio does not only have passion for the game because he plays it, his interest lies more in the fact that he is empowering the youths through sports. When the youths are engaged positively through sports, the thought of vices like armed robbery, kidnapping, vandalism and many others will be seriously minimised if not eradicated and the Nigerian economy will be the better for it.

If all our Governors, Senators, House of Reps members, other politicians and all wealthy individuals including corporate bodies, could take one sport and support it like Governor Akpabio is doing for Scrabble today, Nigerians will not be grieving over poor performances at competitions like we saw during the Summer Olympic Games in London a couple of weeks ago.

Time for Ladipo to quit

Elders from my little village of Ekpon in Igueben Local Government of Edo state say that if one stays too long in a pit toilet, he is sure to be visited by flies of different colours. Meaning that that person has over stayed his visit to the toilet and should leave.

That is the case with Dr Rafiu Ladipo, the self-styled President General of the Nigerian Football Supporters Club who is being fingered for the crisis rocking the club over its inability to conduct an election into its executive offices.

The grievances of the aggrieved members include Dr Ladipo’s alleged insistence on ensuring that his favoured  candidate wins and an allegation that he vowed never to allow a non-Yoruba assume leadership of the club. If they are true, these allegations are weighty and he should douse the fears of the members by allowing the elections to hold on a level playing field.

If I am right, Dr Ladipo took over the mantle of leadership of the Supporters Club in 1994. He took the club to a height that earned it accolades from FIFA, brought sponsorships deals for it and glamourised its activities.

When he was challenged for the chairmanship position years back, he resisted but only stepped aside and created the President General position as the club’s permanent world leader, life chairman you may call it. He has done well, there is no doubt about that but when he begins to think that without him, the club will die, people will tell him it is a fallacy. That is the resistance he is getting over the election he has refused to conduct. The honourable thing for him to do now is conduct a free and fair election, scrap the President General position and assume an elder of the club who members can run to for advice on issues periodically.