NUGA 2022: UI Welcomes LAUTECH, Lead City, First Technical University for Preliminaries

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By Ajise Israel

The University of Ibadan returns to the Nigerian University Games after an eight-year hiatus.


The qualifiers for the Nigerian University Games began on Tuesday, January 25, at the University of Ibadan. Similarly to the ongoing AFCON 2021, in which a qualifying round was played before the main tournament, the pre-NUGA games will be played before the event proper, which will commence on March 16, and is to be hosted by the University of Lagos.


This year, the University of Ibadan will be contesting in 16 sports in total at the NUGA finals in Lagos, but there will be 13 sports for at the preliminary stage as UI automatically qualified for three sports at the NUGA games.


UCJ UI got in contact with the UI’ Students’ Union Sports Secretary, Olawale Joshua Babatunde, popularly called OJB, to give updates concerning the Games. He said:


“The Pre-NUGA Games means NUGA preliminaries, just like we have the AFCON qualifiers. It’s not everybody that must go to the NUGA Games. In the team sports, one team is going to qualify in our zone and in individual sports, two schools are going to qualify.”


“The Pre-NUGA stands as a qualifying round for the top schools, those that qualify go to the NUGA proper.”


The Premiere University is grouped in zone B for the pre-NUGA games as hosts. UI will compete in 13 sports against Bowen University, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Lead City University, and First Technical university to secure a slot in the finals slated for Lagos.


The thirteen sports UI will be competing for at the pre-NUGA games are Football(male and female), Basketball, Handball, Volleyball, Badminton, Taekwondo, Squash, Judo, Tennis, Table-Tennis, Swimming, Chess and Athletics.


Joshua further stated that for team sports like football, handball and basketball, only one Institution would come through from Zone B. This means that UI would have to outdo the other four institutions to secure a spot in the NUGA finals.


However, he added that the University has already secured automatic qualification for individual games like scrabble because it will not be played in the NUGA preliminaries.


When quizzed about the preparations for the games so far, he affirmed that training had started since last session, and most of the athletes are in good shape.


“The training for the pre-NUGA games started last year in November, before the games and so far so good, they have been playing together, so each teammate knows themselves.” He said.


It is pertinent to note that the first edition of the NUGA games was played in 1966, and it was hosted by the University of Ibadan. However, the last time UI competed at the NUGA games was in 2013, when it was held at Obafemi Awolowo University.


That campaign was one to forget for the Premiere University, as the contingent finished 26th on the medal table out of about 70 schools that participated that year. UI skipped the 2014 edition held in Makurdi due to the insecurity crisis ravaging the Northern part of Nigeria.


Joshua, when commenting on the welfare of UI’s student-athletes, stated: “pertaining to the welfare of the sport men and women, the school is working on it. For the payment of their allowance and accommodation during these games. Actually it was late to accommodate people early, we didn’t accommodate people early.”


“So far, so good, they’ve been accommodated now. The male athletes were given accommodation in Mellanby hall, while the female athletes were given accommodation in Queens hall. Pertaining to that also, the payment of their allowance is being worked upon.”


The Sports secretary commended the efforts of the Sports council and also highlighted that the school’s VC has shown immense support concerning providing the needed materials to make hosting the pre-NUGA games a huge success.

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