The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Niger Delta Polo Festival

  • Polo Tour goes on break for Ramadan, Easter

    Polo Tour goes on break for Ramadan, Easter

    The  Holy months of Ramadan cum  the Lent and  Easter season has put on  break  the action-packed Nigerian Polo Tour that took off early January at the serene Port Harcourt Polo Ground with the Niger Delta Polo festival before hitting Lagos last month  for the just concluded ‘Eko’ international polo tournament.

    This unexpected break from the national tour that would last for two months, became necessary, to allow participating patrons and players and the teeming polo enthusiast to observe their religious rites which  would round up early April.

    However  on  resumption next month,  the  tour will head straight to the ancient  Oyo Kingdom for the 2025 Ibadan International Polo Tournament in May, before  gathering steam to the north, where Zaria and Minna polo clubs and  Fifth Chuckker Polo & Country Resort  are bracing to host their respective tournaments.

    The decision to restart the season in the Oyo State capital city was taken in Lagos by the games’ ruling authority, after its general meeting and handicap assessment where some players who distinguished themselves during the Lagos tournament had their handicaps raised, while others were reviewed one step lower.

    President of Ibadan Polo Club, Koyinsola Owoeye who received the tournament flag at brief ceremony in Lagos, confirmed that Ibadan would host the first tournament after the religious holidays, assuring all stakeholders and polo enthusiasts of an exciting and memorable time in Ibadan in two months’ time.

     “Yes the national body has just given us the nod to host our 2025 tournament  in May and we are super excited as preparations will start almost immediately for what promises to be one of the best  tournaments in the almost a century-old history of the game of Kings in Ibadan,”  Koyin declared.

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    Traditionally hosted by the Ibadan Polo Club since the early 1930, with the support of Oyo State Government, corporate giants, organizations, well-meaning individuals and the traditional institutions across the state, the prestigious Ibadan polo festival stands alone as the biggest sporting-cum tourism event in the ancient kingdom on annual basis.

    Ibadan remains the home of the Ibadan Cup which is one of the oldest polo prizes in Nigeria. Other major prizes include the Rotimi Cup, Ade Alakija Cup played in memory of the former Ibadan Polo Captain, and the GOC Cup as well as a handful subsidiary prizes and awards.

    These subsidiary prizes to be carted home by the winners include the Professor Jide Owoeye Cup, HST Cup and Shoreline Cup, as well awards for individual players who distinguished themselves during the weeklong polo festival.

    Thereafter,  the tour will make a stopover in the Zazzau Kingdom  where the Zaria Polo Club has not been able to organize their premium annual event in the last few years. 

    The dense cloud hanging on Zaria could  leave  the door wide open to Fifth Chuckker Polo & Country Club for its Charity Shield polo extravaganza that usually hold annually   between  early  May  and June.

  • Echoes from Niger Delta Polo Festival  in Port Harcourt

    Echoes from Niger Delta Polo Festival  in Port Harcourt

    The commanding display by defending champions, Jos Malcomines from Plateau State coupled with the high-profile participation of His Royal Majesty King Diette Spiff, King of Opobo and His Royal Highness Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Musdafa, the  Lamido of Adamawa,  were undoubtedly the major  highlights  of the just concluded 2025 Niger Delta Polo Festival  in Port Harcourt.

    Organized and hosted by Port Harcourt Polo Club, the ‘Unity in Motion Polo Festival’ was a grand event pitching most of the biggest names in Nigerian polo and an impressive assemblage of teams from across the country, was unique in many ways.

    The ‘Miners from Jos’  who arrived loaded with their Patron and President of Jos Polo Club, Murtala Laushi,   left no one in doubt about their intention in the Garden City,  as  the Jos Malcomines powered  past  Wiltten Aviation team to retain the glittering King Diette Spiff Cup for a second successive times. 

    Other top winners of the Unity in Motion edition of the fiesta include the top firing Abuja YBL team led by the Captain of Nigerian Army Polo team, Col. Y Bello, that won the OB Lulu Briggs Cup and David Sikpa-mounted Lagos Sidafaco team that finished runners-up.

    The list of champions at  the 2025 PH Polo international polo tournament also  include the Minna Bago team that won their  first ever T.Y. Danjuma Cup edging home Boys, PH FB9 team in final.and PH Bobtrack that won all the major prizes at stake.

    The Bob Track Team also enjoyed podium celebration after defeating visiting Katsina Danmarna Warriors to clinch the JTJ Princewill Cup .

    There were  also proud winners in the coveted President Cup, Governor’s Cup and Arch. Roland Cookey-Gam Cup.

    Awards were  handed out to organizations and  deserving individuals for their unwavering support for the tournament and promotion of the noble game of kings in the region and the country as a whole at a colourful  ceremony to draw  the  curtain on the prestigious festival..

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    An elated President of the Port Harcourt Polo Club and Chief Host, Prince Henry Agbodjan, noted that the tournament, themed ‘Unity in Motion Polo Festival’, has delivered on all fronts,  providing a lively and enjoyable experience for polo enthusiasts nationwide.

    He expressed appreciation to the Rivers Government and the tournament’s sponsors, partners and benefactors for their support, pointing out that the polo fiesta that showcases the rich cultural heritage of the Niger Delta region, was a major tourism and commercial boost for the Rivers State economy.

    Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the tournament and Vice President Port Harcourt Polo Club, Dolapo Attoni, Tournament Manager, David Sikpa and Polo Captain, Dr. Ikenna Nebolisa all congratulated the winners and the runners-up for their sportsmanship and achievements.

     “We are happy that this year’s tournament has surpassed previous editions, in excitement, competition and pomp with teams and players coming from Argentina, Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Jos, Yola, Minna, Katsina and a handful of Port Harcourt based teams vying for major prizes,” they noted in a statement.

    Well-regarded as the only regional polo festival in the South-South geopolitical zone of the country and reputed for its record setting tradition, the 2025 edition featured over 20 teams from all the major polo centres across Nigeria  in over 50 nerve wrecking  games decided over seven days of end-to end-exciting polo actions and epic entertainment.

    Expectedly, the fiesta provided a perfect platform for  established Nigerian polo stars and hundreds of upcoming youngsters to display their skills in a glamorous sporting setting that captures essence  of  friendships and sportsmanship  in the truest sense that the ancient game of kings with over 125 years history.