Rear Admiral Festus Porbeni (retd.), President of the Rowing, Canoeing and Sailing Federation, is happy that rowing was highlighted at a National Sports Festival for the second time during the recently concluded Delta 2022 edition of the festival.
The sport debuted at the Abuja 2018 NSF, and in 2022, after being absent from Edo 2020, it returned, with competitors taking place at the Grand Hotel in Asaba.
“I started in Abuja with the goal of making rowing a mandatory sport at the national sports festival; however, I was unable to make it work in Edo.” I’m glad I’ve done it twice already, Porbeni remarked.
The former navy officer thinks players who would rather concentrate on the most well-liked sports in the nation could find great success in this sport.
“The sport has 54 medals for us. Despite all the fanfare, football only awards one gold medal. With seven gold medals up for grabs, it’s a sport that people should view like a gold mine, he stated.
Porbeni informed our correspondent that the sport was becoming more and more popular and will keep changing in the years ahead.
He went on, “It’s fairly popular since people traveled across the sea to come witness the tournament, which is why we are here. I’ve made it seem as though any body of water might be used to play this sport. See Jabi Lake, it is now a popular sport there.
Any sport will inevitably change with time. In order for our Nigerian talents to score higher, we want them to compete in more events. We couldn’t afford to take them to the Olympics, even though we really wanted to. We encourage private enterprises to collaborate with us and applaud the sports ministry for their efforts. Although it is an expensive sport, it has the potential to grow significantly if given the proper exposure.
