The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Talents

  • Police Games targets more talents for international competitions

    Police Games targets more talents for international competitions

    As the 10th biennial Nigeria Police Games kick off in Port Harcourt today, one thing that is paramount to the organizers of the games is to discover as many talents as possible that would be representing the nation in international competitions.

    Speaking with the journalists in Port Harcourt, the Nigeria Police PRO, Frank Mbah noted that the Police would be picking men and women from this games who would represent Nigeria at the World Police games in August, keeping in mind also the next Commonwealth games and 2016 Olympics.

    “We are preparing our athletes for the World Police games coming up in Belfast, Northern Ireland in August this year. So from this competition, we will be picking men and women that will be representing the Nigeria Police Force there. “Beyond that, the Nigerian Police felt very bad that Nigeria went to the last Olympics and came back with nothing, and we want to fill that void, and also the coming commonwealth games,” he said..

    Mba also revealed that the Police games has also been upgraded more with new innovations and would have twenty-five competitive games and three non-scoring events.

    “We have increased the number of games we used to have before. We will also be experimenting what we call the mixed relay. It’s an innovation of the Nigerian Police where u have men and women in a single team running on track and competing together against each other.

    “Adequate arrangements has been made for the games. For us, the Police games is not just about sports; it’s about celebrating Africa, Nigeria and the Nigeria Police Force. It’s also about empowering our officers and men.

    “Hence, what you are going to see in Port Harcourt is going to be a celebration of best of sports in Nigeria,” he said.

    Mba concluded by saying that the games would also give Nigeria strong Public Relations with neighbouring nations as Policemen are expected from the five countries of Benin, Ghana, Gambia, Burkina Faso and Guinea to the games.

     

  • Show your talents, Igwe urges Team Rivers

    Show your talents, Igwe urges Team Rivers

    As the Team Rivers contingent arrives in Lagos, for the 18th National Sports Festival tagged ‘EKO 2012,’ the Rivers State Sports Commissioner, Fred Mbombo Igwe has said that the festival serves as another opportunity for the athletes from the state to showcase themselves for national and international recognition and for handsome rewards.

    The Commissioner stressed that Team Rivers has the collective and individual strength to defend the title in EKO 2012, a feat which they achieved convincingly last year in Port Harcourt during the Garden City games.

    He advised that the reward for medals should not be a thing of concern for now. “You would agree with me that athletes and coaches who won medals during the Garden City Games held in 2011 were handsomely rewarded by the Rivers State Government last year.

    “Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon Chibuike Amaechi does not take the business of sports for granted. He believes sports to be one of the easiest ways to create the desired positive change in the state”, Igwe said.

    He also noted that Team Rivers would definitely smile at the end of the Games. “I have visited some athletes and I see confidence, determination and high spirits to win laurels. This is a time to make a difference for the state and for themselves as athletes”, Igwe urged.

  • Talents in creativity

    Talents in creativity

    In a society where the standard of education has been under serious scrutiny and many concerned citizens have been of the opinion that children are not receiving enough attention both from their parents and teachers, a lover of children, Ita Hozaife, has come out with a solution. With her INK Marks, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which specialises in the training of kids in all aspects of the arts and creativity. she has succeeded in redirecting attention to the need to encourage them to be more serious about their God-given talents and innate creative abilities.

    Last weekend, Hozaife, in collaboration with the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, put together an award ceremony tagged Reel Kids Awards to reward children who participated in a 3-week summer training/workshop organised by INK Marks. The training was in the areas of speech, script writing, poetry, drama and film making, among others.

    For the three weeks that the training was in session, the kids were made to write their own songs and film scripts which they produced. Part of the film and musicals were shown to the guests during the award ceremony.

    Hozaife explained that she got into the project about ten years ago because she discovered that a lot of kids were not doing well in the areas of English and Literature. “And if you do not do well in these two subjects, no matter how gifted you are, it will be difficult for you to express yourself confidently. So, our focus is essentially on youth development through media. This includes creative writing and content development. Basically our target is to develop these skills in children and young adults using interview techniques,” she said.

    The INK Marks training/workshop has so well developed that a lot of the kids have elected to go into filming or song writing. The awards were put in place primarily to encourage them to continue to tap on their innate creative powers. One of the kids named Uche simply said: “I love to play the piano. When I am on stage too, I feel cool.” Uche is just 11 years old and has been so indoctrinated that she now knows what it takes to be a deejay and a music star. “Music is good and I love it,” she said.

    The awards came in the following categories: best overall student, best team leader, best team player, most inspiring Reel kid. Others were Reel kids music videos, best team collaboration, best original song, best music video concept and so on.

    It was while the recorded videos of the workshop were playing that a lot of parents really stood up to cheer their kids. The children performed with so much dexterity that one wondered how they could have perfected their act within three weeks. The joy of it is that those talents have been discovered and the kids can jolly well prove their worth.

    Hozaife said: “This is for me an opportunity to give love to others, to help families and prepare the kids for the challenges ahead. That’s my joy.”