By

Sab Osuji 

Ama-Ebi Ebikpolade Stow, South South Zonal Representative in the board of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation, has attributed 'lack of facilities' as reason for the slow progress of Table Tennis in the zone.

Ebikpolade made this known during a live interactive program with "Sport Tribe Podcast" at the newly constructed Fortress at Oxbow-Lake in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

He disclosed that when he assumed office as chairman of the Bayelsa State Table Tennis Association, he and his vice chairman, Ranani Igrubia, sat and assessed table tennis in the state and identified key areas of improvement.

"We realized that lack of facility was a major problem bedeviling table tennis in the state", he observed.

"The only state in Nigeria that can boast of table tennis facilities was Lagos and Cross River in the South South", he added. 

"Table tennis previously was played in NTTF unapproved floor. That narrative has changed".

The NTTF zonal boss further hinted that the desire to construct the 'state of the art edifice' for table tennis rather than his initial plan of building a mechanic shop was as a result of the passion he has developed for table tennis, adding that he has no regret investing hugely in the youths.

Ebikpolade also explained that prior to his assumption of office as chairman,  majority of the coaches in the association were yet to secure their National Institute of Sports, NIS, certificates which, according to him, is the only certified certificate of the NTTF for someone to be a tennis coach.

The Bayelsa State Table Tennis Association chairman further explained that the latest coach to benefit from the NIS program was Azibalua Abadi from Ogbia LGA.

He noted that the association would not condone mediocrity but rather excellence, pointing out that the state umpires have also benefitted from  training exercise in order to be acquainted with the laws of the game.

He asserted that apart from winning laurels for the state, the association was committed to ensuring that all the athletes combine sports and education, pointing out that all the athletes are currently attending one of the best private universities in the country.

Ebikpolade remarked that since his emergence as the table tennis boss, Bayelsa has closed the gap between them and other states in the nation, particularly Lagos, stressing that Bayelsa has in the last few years become a force to reckon with in Nigeria.

He opined that the commissioner for Sports Development, Dr. Igali and the Director of Sports, Sir. Braveman Wodi have made things easy for the association, pointing out that his priority at the moment is for the athletes to give the state good representation in the National Sports Festival in Ogun State.

Also speaking, former Bayelsa State Table Tennis star, Ateh Maiduguri, said the new generation of players are lucky to have Ama-ebi Stow as chairman describing them as privileged.

He hinted that in their playing days, table tennis was almost dropped from going to competition outside the state due to their shambolic outings in tournaments, maintaining that he is elated to see the progress of the sports under Ama-ebi’s watch.

Maiduguri urged the multinational oil companies, financial institutions and well meaning Bayelsans to get involved in the development of sports, saying that the government cannot do it alone.