The Nigeria Judo Federation (NJF) said on Wednesday that it would discover just eight talented judokas at the ongoing 18th National Sports Festival in Lagos.
Olakitan DeSouza, the federation’s Technical Director, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the federation limited its capacity to just eight talented judokas due to lack of funds. “The discovered eight talented judokas, male and female, will be monitored and groomed after the festival,” DeSouza said.
The director, who did not, however, stipulate the number of gender for discovery, said that the discovered talents would be nurtured to become elite athletes.
“We want to pick just eight talented judokas because we do not have enough finance and sponsors. In recent times, sponsors do not want to be associated with the sport, so we cannot stretch ourselves beyond our limits,” he said.
DeSouza, however, added that the federation was working on a platform to ensure that the game was embraced, like other martial arts in the country.
“In 2013, we planned to introduce the sport in schools, but we realised that other martial art sports had gained more recognition, ahead of judo,” he said.
DeSouza, however, insisted that the sport was good because a judokas can easily defend him or herself in any situation. He then encouraged more women to be part of the martial game, saying that it was not meant for men alone.
