Nigeria Will Embrace Esports- Sports Minister

By: Gyang Dakwo

Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh has assured the leadership of the ESports Federation that Nigeria will embrace its activities in order to promote and grow the game.

The Minister stated this in his office at the Moshood Abiola national stadium, when he played host to members of the Nigerian ESports Federation led by its President, Clinton Agbor Ayuk who paid him a courtesy call.

Sen. Enoh said, the potentials for the growth and progress of the sport appears incredible, adding that sports is one of the sectors that gives Nigerian youths the greatest amount of social inclusiveness.
He expressed optimism that ESports will greatly contribute to tackling issues of poverty, insecurity and other societal ills.

“It does appear to me that the potentials for the growth and for the progress and development of eSports as a sport in our country appear incredible,” he said.

“From the little understanding of this sports that I have, it appears as a ministry and as a country we cannot continue to ignore the activities and operations of ESports, because I find out whether we recognize it or not, this game is going on”

“I believe for example that in promoting sports as one of the sectors that gives us the greatest approximation of social inclusiveness, as one of the sectors that takes care of unemployment, it can take care and alleviate people’s poverty”

“One of the things I expect for example is that even in terms of taking care of the security challenges in the country, my hope is that eSports more than guarantees us more than all of that”

Speaking earlier, President of the Nigerian eSports Federation, Clinton Agbor Ayuk said the purpose of the visit is to identify with the Minister and commend him on his stance of supporting all sports without bias.

The delegation also used the occasion to intimate the Minister of the number of competitions they have participated in and what eSports has achieved within the last 8 years of it’s existence.

He informed the minister on the Federation’s last outing to Saudi Arabia for the Afro-Arab championship.

“We came to see you as a Father, that’s because we have heard you times without number say you are a father of all sports and so we felt it will be right for us to come and identify with you, to confirm to the world that this ministry is a ministry of the entire sporting activities”

The further informed him of the membership of the Nigerian eSports community which is made up of about 25 states associations already affiliated to the federation towards engaging players in Egaming activities across the country.