LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Nigeria’s Cricket National Development Manager (NDM), Joseph Oche Onoja has revealed that cricket is no longer confined to a few corners of Nigeria especially across the North, where the game is finding new ground, new players and new possibilities.
In an interview with the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) Media conversation, Onoja, shared insights on the growth and development of cricket across Northern Nigeria.
“What is happening at this moment (cricket development) now is beyond expectations. We have gone far in the sense that when you look at the players today at the national teams, even in the u19s some of them are from the northern part of the country.
“And they are all part of the development that we started from the northern part of the country,” Onoja explained.
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The NDM also noted that the expansion of grassroots participation gave room for breaking of barriers as it allowed more girls and women to take up the game.
“In the north we normally find it difficult because a lot of the people from the north are not involved in the game.
“But we speak Hausa and we are fully involved in the system so majority of them have begun to play the game,” he added.
The cricket enthusiast disclosed that while the development had been notable in the national teams, there were still challenges affecting the development of the sport, especially in terms of funding and sponsorship.
Onoja urged more stakeholders to invest in the bat and ball game in order to produce more world class athletes that would put Nigeria on the map.
He concluded by commending the efforts of the NCF President, Uyi Akpata for his efforts at growing the game of cricket in Nigeria
