Revival Of Nigerian Judo Begins In Ibadan 15 July

IKPO IGBINOBA 

Hurrah, happy days are here again for Nigerian judo and the judokas. 

After over three years of flagging fortunes for the martial art, things are looking up once again.

Yes, the revival of judo kicks off on July 15 to July 20 in the historic city of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

On the card is the National Open Judo Championships (for men and women) which will bring to Ibadan all the judokas from Abuja and the thirty six states of the federation.

Sanctioned by the Nigeria Judo Federation, NJF, the championship according to the schedule of events would be heralded by a refresher course for coaches, referees and athletes.

The course will run for two days before the fireworks on the mats would commence at full throttle.

For judokas, nothing could be more heartwarming than having a championship of this magnitude happening almost immediately after the National Sports Festivial which took place in Benin City in April.

The sports festival provided a platform for the judokas to express themselves after a long period of inactivity. 

For the better part of four years, the judokas were idle apart from taking part in a sprinkling of competitions that you could count on the fingers of one hand and still have some left.

No thanks to an inept leadership at the helm of the federation which ran the sport aground.

In the four years of the board, Nigeria lost her place among the elite to drop to  the unenviable ranks of the minnows. 

To crown a very pathetic story, Nigeria could not qualify even one judoka for the Tokyo Olympics.

But in the midst of the dark clouds that engulfed Nigerian judo in the last four years there was always a silver lining in the person of one time vice president of the NJF and current chairman of Oyo State Judo Association, Dr. Musa Oshodi. 

Dr. Oshodi who watched with pain from the sidelines while the last board ruined the sport waited for the opportune moment to intervene.

And he’s singlehandedly sponsoring the Ibadan showpiece which many stakeholders have already dubbed “the revival of Nigerian judo”.

Oshodi, a former judoka told P.M . EXPRESS that there was nothing too much for him to give to judo.

“Judo played a significant role in my life because as a practitioner of the sport from a tender age, I imbibed all the virtues the sport taught”.

Though he regrets the present prostrate condition of the sport, Oshodi is optimistic that there’s still a rosy future.

He stressed “The country will regain her lost judo glory. We have the talents and once the issue of leadership is addressed, we will reclaim our place among the giants”.