Saturday August 12, 2023 is a day anyone living in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital can’t afford to miss after a renowned Olympic medalist and top sports personality, Chika Chukwumerije, announced of his readiness to make out time to keep fit with residents.
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Chukwumerije who has been in the forefront of promoting and encouraging Nigerians to live healthy said his decision to stage a comprehensive physical exercise as from 7am on the day, was born of his passion to lead the way.
The Saturday morning drills will happen at the Package B, inside the prestigious Moshood Abiola National stadium Abuja.
“Aside helping people to exercise and keep fit, it will be time to catch fun and learn a lot at the free morning aerobic fitness class this weekend,” he said.
Meanwhile, the 6th edition of the Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation (CCSF) Invitational Taekwondo Open will take place on Saturday August 12, 2023 at the Indoor Basketball hall of the stadium.
Up to 100 youth athletes – comprising 64 males and 36 females, from six Abuja-based taekwondo clubs are confirmed for the event, organisers have revealed.
According to CCSF founder and Chief Executive Officer, “The FCT Taekwondo Association sanctioned event will deploy an electronic display scoring system while the competitors will compete in a round robin format to ensure participants get a lot of exposure and experience.
“To engage spectators, we have plans to surround the area with activities, including a free morning aerobic fitness class, setting up fun table tennis and video games areas and a bouncing castle for children. Vendors have also been engaged to provide food and drinks to spectators, and DJs will liven the atmosphere with music all day.
“To cap off the day, an outdoor dance-off competition will help thrill FCT residents to a sports entertainment themed event.”
Beijing 2008 Olympic Medalist and CCSF founder, Chika Chukwumerije, highlighted the importance of fusing entertainment with sports to the development of grassroots sports in Nigeria.
“We want to organise an event that anybody would want to come to on a Saturday morning in a summer holiday. The public longs for and deserve these kinds of programs regularly and sports has always been perfectly poised to satisfy this demand, while simultaneously developing sports at the grassroots,” he said.
Chukwumerije, Nigeria’s National Captain to the London 2012 Olympics and former African Champion promised a well-organised event that would be memorable for both competitors and spectators.
“We want young athletes to be properly exposed, so it is important for officiating to be fair and transparent and operations to run without hitches. We also want our guests who come to the event to have a great time experiencing various things,” he said.
Chukwumerije who took a sabbatical after successfully guiding Nigeria’s second ever female Taekwondo Olympian, Elizabeth Anyanacho, to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics explained that the current target of his foundation.
“We have suspended our high-performance project after its successful 6-year run that cumulated in producing an Olympian, African Medalist and several National champions. My foundation will now focus on hosting sports entertainment events and using proceeds and donations to kickstart an orphanage project, which seeks to empower orphans through sports and computer skills acquisition. We will use our sports entertainment events to highlight our new focus,” he said.
For the Saturday’s tourney, medals will be awarded in 19 various categories, including eight kiddies, nine cadets and two junior categories.
The event is a test-run event for a bigger edition planned for December 2023.
