Lagos – Tunde Giwa-Daramola, the Commodore in charge
of the Navy Sailing Club in Lagos, says natural seafarers abound in
Nigeria to partake in water sports.
Giwa-Daramola told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos
that availability of different water bodies in the country could
enhance popularity of the sports.
According to him, the navy sailing club will do all it can to harness
and train identified talents for water sports.
“Water sports (are) not very popular and there is no part in Nigeria
where we don’t have a large body of water whether is in the North, in
the East or in the West.
“And there is nowhere in Nigeria that you will not have people
traversing on top of water for commercial, for education, for one
thing or the other.
“Most of the fish that we eat in the south come all the way from the
north-east; that means we have natural seafarers but we are not
harnessing the natural resources that we have, which is very
unfortunate.
“Our brothers from the (riverside) too are not being harnessed and
that is what we are trying to do in the navy sailing club.
“You have to teach them the technique; you have to start at very
young age and make water not to be an enemy; you can’t do anything
without water.’’
NAN reports that the club has scheduled to hold a tournament on Sunday
to mark the Nigerian Navy 60th anniversary. (NAN)