One of Nigeria’s finest professional polo players, Hamisu Buba is thrilled that Nigeria left lasting memories at the recently concluded King Mohammed V1 International polo tournament in Morocco where the Nigerian flag flew high global fiesta.
Buba, a member of the Nigerian team captained by Murtala Laushi, won the Most Valuable Player Award during the tournament after Nigeria wrote their names in gold, defeating polo super-power, USA in one of the group games.
The Jos- based professional described the experience of his participation in the fiesta as exciting and memorable, stating that winning the MVP award after the game against the USA was one of the greatest high- points of his career, after Nigeria’s sterling participation at the FIP Zone D World Cup tournament in Malaysia a few years back.
The Jos Malcomines polo team’s captain expressed his profound appreciation to the national ruling authority, the Nigerian Polo Federation (NPF), for giving him the opportunity to play a pivotal role in Nigeria’s impressive run during the prestigious polo fiesta in Morocco despite missing out in the final game.
“I want to dedicate the MVP Award to the NPF, members of my family, our teeming fans and Nigerians for their prayers and support for the team during the tournament that propel the team to its impressive performances that are still enjoying raving media reviews in the Northern Africa country and across the world,” Buba said.
“We the players, Solomon Bassi, Fernando Munoz, Abdulmalik Bariki and Bello Samaila and our Team Captain and NPF Secretary, Murtala Ahmadu Laushi are super proud to be Nigerians and campaigning in the national colours of our fatherland was super thrilling,” he added.
The international polo event that is traditionally organized under the auspices of the Moroccan Royal Federation of Polo, the Nigerian Polo Eagles against other top polo playing nations like Argentina, USA, Spain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and host Morocco.
The President of Nigeria Polo Federation, Nura Sani Kangiwa who led the delegation to the tournament, was full of appreciation to their Moroccan host for the hugely successful tournament.
He was particularly happy for the Nigerian players for their discipline and sportsmanship throughout the prestigious polo event that is rated by the world ruling body, (FIP).
Other members of the Nigerian contingent to the royal polo tournament include NPF Vice President, Abdulkarim Jibril, NPF Secretary General, Murtala Ahmad Laushi, and Mohammed Abba Kyari who is FIP Zone D Coordinator in Africa.
We also gathered that the NPF believes that the country has all it takes to win global polo titles if the team is made to be more competitive by playing more regularly on the international scene, and has drawn up an ambitious plan for the national team.
“We need to have a strong team to challenge the world’s best playing teams,” Kangiwa noted.“ We battled against a strong field with intimidating records. It was a good test for us. “
He added: “The standard of polo seen here was very high as we had some world class teams with tactical depth. We need to raise our polo to a higher level. Some changes are needed to take the game to new heights. It was a good learning experience for us. The Nigerian team showed tremendous fighting spirit but that alone cannot win matches.”