The Nation Newspaper

Tag: SCRABBLE

  • Lagos to add scrabble to schools’ curriculum

    Lagos to add scrabble to schools’ curriculum

    Adetona Odukomaiya, Technical Director of the Lagos State Scrabble Association, on Friday said plans were underway to add scrabble to schools’ curriculum in the state.

    Odukomaiya told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the association had been working closely with the State Ministry of Education to ensure its implementation.

    “We have introduced Scrabble as a game in all schools in Lagos state. We are now adding scrabble to the schools’ curriculum in the state.

    “We have coaches who go into the schools to train the students every day. Scrabble is all about English Language and introducing it will increase the vocabulary of the students.

    “It will also make them much more aware of English words and help them in their final result in the English Language in WAEC examinations and others.

    “It is also going to open up the students to the advantage of playing scrabble, such as getting scholarships,’’ he said.

    Odukomaiya described the state as the hub of scrabble in Nigeria, adding that the state was working hard to produce the next world champion.

    He expressed hope that the Lagos Classic would be held later this year or in 2018.

    NAN reports that the state won the 2017 Asaph Zadok National Scrabble Championship.

  • Buhari congratulates Nigeria’s world scrabble champions

    Buhari congratulates Nigeria’s world scrabble champions

    President Muhammadu Buhari was on the phone early Sunday evening to Perth, Australia, felicitating with a Nigerian who emerged World Scrabble Champion, the first ever from Africa.

    Wellington Jighere, 36, defeated Lewis Mackay of Cambridge, England, by 448 points to 426 to win the championship which was competed for by 450 players from round the world.

    “I called to rejoice with you over your performance. You have done the country proud, and we are very happy. Please, pass my congratulations to other members of Team Nigeria,” President Buhari told Jighere.

    Jighere was delighted at the phone call from the President, and pledged to bring more glory to his fatherland.

    The five other Nigerian representatives finished in the top 50 scrabble players in the world bracket.

    Shortly after President Buhari got off the phone, news got to him that the Under-20 female football team, the Falconets, have qualified for the Women’s World Cup Tournament after beating the Basetsana of South Africa by a lone goal in an away game.

    The Falconets had walked a tight rope after scraping just a 2-1 win over South Africa in Nigeria two weeks ago. With the away goal counting double rule, all that South Africa needed today was a single goal, but the Nigerian girls turned the table.

    “This is a clear case of the indomitable Nigerian spirit. Such will soon be evident in all aspects of our national life,” President Buhari said.

  • Lagos Int’l Scrabble Classics: 200 players to attend

    Lagos Int’l Scrabble Classics: 200 players to attend

    Farouk Baba-Inna, a member of the Technical Committee, Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), on Thursday said no fewer than 200 participants were expected at the Lagos International Scrabble Classics.

    The competition, which began on Thursday at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, will end on Saturday.

    Baba-Inna told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the U.K, Uganda, Ireland and Ghana would be represented at the tournament. He said the three countries would present a player each, while Ghana would feature three.

    “The competition is going to be great because we are going to have experienced hands from the countries participating. This will further encourage and develop the playing skills of our home-based players to attain international standards,” he said.

    Baba-Inna commended the Lagos State Scrabble Association (LSSA) for organising a competition that would aid the development of the sport in the country. He advised other states to emulate LSSA in organising competitions so that talents could be discovered and trained for international tournaments.

    NAN reports that the scrabble classics will bring to 10 the international competitions organised by the Lagos State Government to develop players for the country.

    They are swimming, table tennis, chess, basketball, squash racket, taekwondo, volleyball, badminton and athletics.

  • Lagos International Scrabble Classics kicks off

    Lagos International Scrabble Classics kicks off

    Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium will come alive today, as the Lagos International Scrabble Classics kicks off.

    All the top players from the United States, England, Scotland, Ghana, Ethiopia and Kenya will be in action today in the masters/international category for the star prize of N1.2m ($8,000).

    According to the organisers, nine of the 28 games will be concluded today while 19 games will be played at the weekend. The players will compete in three categories – masters/international, Intermediate and opens in their bid to be part of the N4.8m prize money.

    All the participants concluded their accreditation on Thursday with all the matches kicking off today. Winners in the intermediate and opens categories will get N.5m and N1m respectively, while the top 10 players will get cash rewards.

    According to the Chairman, Lagos State Scrabble Association, Dayo Alao, the tournament would also help the local players as they are expected to compete with their foreign counterparts.

    Among the top players expected at the competition include Nigeria-born United States’ Sammy Okosagah, a two-time winner of the Akpabio tournament as well as Nigeria-born Scot, Lukmon Owolabi.

    Also, a special invitational category for professionals, who are expected to pay a participation fee of N50, 000, will be part of the event with the proceeds going into a developmental programme.

    “We are not only looking at the tournament alone, but to look at how we can develop the sport at the grassroots level.

    “That is why we will be having the special category for captains of industry with the proceeds from the participation fee going into a developmental programme in schools.

    “The winner of this division will decide the school that will benefit from the initiative. For us, we are trying to encourage support from these professionals,” Alao said.

  • Coach tasks scrabble players on skills, strategies

    Wale Ilori, the Scrabble Coach of Kings College, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Tuesday said that consistently playing with a better opponent would improve the skills of any scrabble player.

    Ilori told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the ongoing `Scrabbulympics’ competition holding in Lagos from Nov. 4 to Nov. 8 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.

    According to him, when a player continually plays with someone on a higher level than himself, he will be forced to improve his skills and strategies in the game.

    “It is a simple theory in life. When you want to become great, challenge those who are better than you in the field you intend to develop yourself in. When you engage those who are better than you in a specific field, you unknowingly improve on yourself, to even become better than your superiors,” he said.

    Ilori, who represented the country at the 2010 Africa Scrabble Championship in Ghana, said that constantly studying the dictionary would also help to improve one’s knowledge of words.

    “When you study the dictionary, you inevitably develop and improve in the volume of words you know,” he said.

    Ilori also said that part of becoming a better player would be to understand the concept of hooks, which is a crucial strategy in scrabble. He described hooks as tiles on the board, which you can add to, in order to create stronger and higher scoring words.

    “This will increase your chances of scoring very high points, while using fewer letters on the game board,” he said.

    Ilori added that the country had enough talents that could easily master the concept of becoming better players in scrabble.

  • AKPABIO SCRABBLE KICKS OFF: Record 419 players storm Uyo

    AKPABIO SCRABBLE KICKS OFF: Record 419 players storm Uyo

    An unprecedented 419 Scrabble players are now in the Akwa Ibom State capital, Uyo even as the Akpabio International Classics enters day two.

    Yesterday was a beehive of activities at the Uyo airport and designated hotels in the capital as reception of guests and hotel allocations occupied most of the day.

    A review of the players already in town shows that 86 of them are in for the Masters category, 89 for intermediate category and 171 are registered for the Open category.

    The Veterans category is not also left out with 53 players , while Mr Larry Ojoko leads a 20 man team of Nigeria Scrabble Federation technical officials made up of adjudicators, annotators, commentators and web masters.

    Speaking on the record entry this year, the Chairman of the Akwa Ibom State Scrabble Association, Pastor Umoh Bassey said he is grateful to the national body for preparing him for the influx of players this year.

    “….if we had planned based on the figures last year, we would have run into logistic problems as we have over 80 players more than last year. The Governor Godswill Akpabio Classics has beome so popular that no scrabble player all over the world wants to miss out” the he said.

    After yesterday’s stress of registration and accreditation, the players and officials will today be taken on a tour of development projects in a state that is known for its “uncommon transformation agenda”

    Also planned for today are courtesy calls, a world press conference and official opening ceremony later in the evening to be presided over by Governor Godswill Akpabio.

    Top on the list of those expected is the world Champion Nigel Richards who will be hotly challenged by Pakorn Nemitrmansuk, Komol Panyasoponlert, Thacha Koowirat, Sammy Okosagah, Charles Tachie Menson and Alan Oyende in the Masters category.

    Okoye Charles, Isong Williams and Chris Akraka lead the Intermediate category while Anthony Odok is top on the Open category list.