Akwa Ibom State Governor , Chief Godswill Akpabio has been named the Pillar of African Scrabble by the association of Africa Scrabble Federations. This was part of events that rounded up the prestigious 7th Godswill Akpabio International Scrabble Classics (GAISC)’s gala night award held at the Akwa Ibom State Government House, Uyo yesterday.
According to the president of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), Chief Toke Aka, Governor Akpabio who is also the Grand Patron of Nigeria scrabble was unanimously chosen as the Pillar of African scrabble by scrabble players because of his continuous support for the game of scrabble in the continent and beyond.
He said the decision to confer on the governor the pillar of Africa scrabble was reached in 2012 during the 9th Africa Scrabble Championship (ASC) in Zambia. “Your Excellency, scrabble players all over Africa have come here to say thank you for all your support to the development of scrabble in Africa.
“Anytime we travel out for competition, they keep asking what is the secret of our success and we keep telling them that you are always there for us. At the last African championship in Zambia, they decided that they will make you the Pillar of African Scrabble because the Godswill Akpabio International classics which started like a joke seven years ago has grown to become the biggest scrabble event in the world. Today, we have over 40 foreign players including the current and four former world champions participate in this year’s event,” he stated. The investiture of the award was performed by the president of Zambia Scrabble Association, Patrick Mpundu, alongside Ghana Scrabble Association president, George Ado, leader of Kenya’s delegation, Catherine Kasavoli and their Nigerian counterpart, Chief Toke Aka.
In his acceptance speech, Governor Akpabio thanked the players for their honour and pledged his continuous support to the development of scrabble in Africa, adding that his administration will be in the forefront of encouraging scrabble in schools and urged his special adviser on youth and sports to liaise with the commissioner of education and the state scrabble association to make it a reality.
He charged Nigeria contingent to the forthcoming World Scrabble Championship in Czech Republic to do Nigeria proud by winning the cup for the first time. He donated N10million to the team to enable them prepare for the championship.
Source: Leadership.
