The president of Nigeria Scrabble Federation, High Chief (Engineer) Toke Aka has blown the lid off the reasons why the country’s men’s contingent failed to pick any medal at the African Games in Ghana.
While many observers were taken aback that the Nigerian team faltered, as Sierra Leone and Uganda stole the show, Engineer Aka submitted that it was due to the abridged nature of the competition in Accra.
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Conversely, the scrabble boss pointed out that Nigeria’s ladies were able to win two gold medals because they are used to shorter games and easily held their own against all opposition.
He, however, assured scrabble fans at home and abroad that the Nigerian men will pick up the pieces and get back to winning ways at the African Championship this October in Sierra Leone.
The soft-spoken scrabble crusader added: “The abridged nature of the competition affected our male players, but we were still able to show our supremacy in scrabble play in Africa.
“We saw that there are no ladies like our ladies because of our robust style of scrabble play in Nigeria. That’s why, no matter the system that is used, it is a walk in the park for our girls, and we took the two gold medals there.
“In the male category, due to the abridged nature, we didn’t pick any medal there. But that is okay for us because we must also think of making the situation in Africa robust.
“If it is a situation where we take all the medals, you will find out that all the other countries will not be happy to see the sport to the next level.
“That’s why I see it as a blessing in disguise somewhat that, out of four medals on offer, we took two of them. It still shows our supremacy.
“The other two gold medals were surprisingly taken by Sierra Leone and Uganda, while Kenya started the African movement for Scrabble 30 years back and thought they were the best but could not win. I’m not unhappy with our performance, but it means we have to work harder.
“Every two years, Nigeria goes to the African championship, and we clean out all the available positions. This is also a pointer that we have to work harder for the African championship this October in Sierra Leone; which is also good that they won this one.
“Our male players came here with over-bloated ego, and we found out that the East Africans are sprinters in scrabble, while we are long-distance runners.
“People come with a lot of adrenalin to beat us and they are the ones on top after the first ten games, but we gradually start to pick up, we become a lot serious and, at the end of 32 games, we end up on top.
“It is the same in other competitions. At the end of the games, you see us with nine or ten players in the top 10 and we claim the title.
“That’s why I already knew our men would not find it easy when I found out that it’s an abridged competition in Accra, but our women are still the best in all aspects of the competition.”
Aka also expressed confidence in an overall resounding performance by Nigeria’s players at the continental championship in October.
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