Otunba Runsewe promises to grow Golf from Grassroot

The Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe emerged as the new President of Nigeria Golf Federation, has promised to promote the sport’s grassroots development.

Air Cmdr Davis Solomon with 10 votes defeated Suleiman Bello from North-East zone who garnered only one vote to emerge as Vice-President.

Otunba Runsewe said he would concentrate on grassroots development of golf in the country, as well as introduce some new innovations into the game.

“We are going to develop a youth programme that will capture the Nigerian golfer from the grassroots because golf is about the only game in which if you don’t start early you can never connect well.

“I am also going to continue from where my predecessor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, stopped. I intend to introduce some new innovations into the golfing arena.

“Today, golf has gone beyond just playing it manually. It is now IT-based. So, I will be bringing a lot of experts from the PGA to come and open more doors for us.

“I can also tell you that there is over six billion dollars in the offing for golfers in the world which the country has not been able to take advantage of.

“So, my plan is to set up a platform where Nigeria can access a major chunk,” he said.

Runsewe also thanked the media for its support for the development of golf, adding that he had also done a lot to promote the game in the country.

Handball: We’ll return to grassroots for proper players’ development says Sam Ocheho

The reelected President of Handball Federation of Nigeria, San Ocheho said the new board would return to the grassroots to ensure a good development of players since it is the only factor needed to produce players.

Ocheho said, “I thank the handball family for entrusting me with this responsibility for another four years.

“I believe now that we have won, we need to sit down and think for the future. We have good four years to raise the game of handball.

“I believe our concentration will be on developing the sport of handball. In the last four years, we did our best to ensure that the game at the grassroots was featuring,” he said.

Ocheho said in his last administration they were able to get sponsors to support the federation’s activities.

“We were able to introduce some sponsorship in our premier league, and we have the Sokoto state government who has also sponsored the under-12 and under-15.

“Also, Edo has committed itself into sponsoring the national division one league.

“From the sponsorship perspective we have been able to do lot and we intend to bring more sponsors on board,” he said.

The HFN President added that the federation would also aim at developing the standard of the technical crew of the national teams.