The University of Jos community has successfully hosted the 2013 edition of the Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA) Zone ‘’E’’ preliminaries.
Speaking at the opening ceremony held at the J. T Useni mini-stadium of the university, the Chairman Local Organizing Committee Prof. Musa Ibrahim expressed gratitude to the NUGA Secretariat for the privilege to host the event.
He said sports is used to unify different people, especially in times of strife and that it is necessary for a multi-ethnic country like Nigeria.
He explained that competition encourages people and youths to struggle beyond their perceived limits in order to achieve excellence and called on the athletes to imbibe discipline and the spirit of sportsmanship.
The chief host of the tournament, and Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Hayward Mafuyai said the university community was happy to host the events adding that “Jos remains the choice destination for staging high profile sporting events due to its cool weather condition, scenic beauty and hospitable people’’.
He noted that the staging of zonal qualifiers is a dress rehearsal for the future hosting of the NUGA finals by the university and subsequently the West African University Games (WAUG).
Representative of Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, Mr. Davou Mang who is the Commissioner for Finance solicited for the hosting right of the 2015 NUGA finals in Jos and promised the support of the state government as the new Olympic capacity stadium under construction would have been completed by then.
The competition featured football, handball, volleyball, basketball table and lawn tennis, judo, taekwondo, and various field and track events.
AZEEZ BIODUN AND EJIKE EMMANUEL
