NUGA GAMES | UNIBEN student drowns in River Benue

A yet-to-be-identified male student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) drowned in River Benue, on Saturday, the closing day of Nigeria University Games Association (NUGA) in Makurdi.

Dr Omeche Onoja, Chairman, NUGA games medical and sanitation sub committee, confirmed the incident to newsmen.

Onoja said the student had gone to the river to swim when the incident occurred.

The official added that his corpse had been deposited at Madonna Hospital in Makurdi, Benue State.

‘We had a distress call from some students of the situation but on reaching the river, we found the lifeless body of the student, who has been identified by his colleagues.

“He was said to have participated in some games. The whole incident could have been avoided”, she said.

57 universities participated in NUGA Games hosted by the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi (UAM).

UNIPORT is overall winner of 25th NUGA Games

 has won 150 medals comprising 70 gold, 47 silver and 33 bronze to emerge overall winners of the 25th Nigeria University Games Association (NUGA) Games.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the games were held at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi between April 22 and April 29.

The medals table released by the NUGA secretariat on Saturday in Makurdi, showed that a total of 57 universities contested for medals at the sports fiesta.

It also showed that UNIPORT won laurels in Judo, Athletics, Taekwondo, Volleyball, Basketball, Scrabble and Tennis.

Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria with 16 medals comprising 11 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals followed a distant second while Benson Idahosa University came third with 26 medals comprising 10 gold, 7 silver and 9 bronze.

University of Lagos with 20 medals, made up of 9 gold, 4 silver and 7 bronze took fourth position.

University of Benin was fifth on the medals table while the host institution took the 11th position with 24 medals comprising 2 gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze medals.

Confusion as the 25th NUGA Games is suspended due to technical hitches

The Nigeria University Games Association (NUGA) has temporarily suspended the national university Games which began on Saturday in Makurdi, over what it called “technical hitches”.

NUGA Secretary-General, B. O. Orodele, who announced the suspension on Sunday in Makurdi, said that the action became necessary because “both athletes and contingent officials have not been accredited as required by the guidelines of the Games”.

According to him:

The temporary suspension will enable both the officials of NUGA and the host university to sort out the technical hitches.

Reacting to the hitches, the President of NUGA, Prof. Stephen Hanafyelto of the University of Maiduguri, blamed the confusion on the ICT Unit of the association which “defied my instructions over accreditation”. He alleged that the ICT Unit refused to heed his instructions on the procedure for accreditation, preferring to deal with the Secretary-General. He further stated that if the complications are unresolved by Monday, the games would be called off. The NUGA president said that more than 450 accreditation tags were needed for both athletes and officials.

Reacting to the threats of cancellation, Prof. Emmanuel Kucha, Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi, the host institution, said that the university should not be punished “for the sins of others”. He said:

The problem is between the Secretary-General and the President of NUGA, and not the host institution; we have done all they asked us to do. We provided facilities and venues. How can they take such an arbitrary decision after we have spent so much money? Do they know where we got the money from? As far as University of Agriculture, Makurdi is concerned, we are ready. We have done our part. We should not be victims of any disagreement between two NUGA officials.

The opening football match of the fiesta, between the host institution and the Kaduna State University (KASU), rescheduled from Saturday to 7 a.m. on Sunday, had to be postponed again, owing to the confusion over accredited athletes. No date has been fixed for the game and other subsequent soccer outings.