By Victor Okoye
President of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), Ifedayo Akindoju, says the federation is committed to promoting gender equality with regards to the participation and officiating of tennis events in the country.
He made the remarks while declaring a maiden International Tennis Federation’s Advantage All workshop open on Friday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigeria Tennis Umpires Association(NTUA) made history on Friday in Abuja.
This was following the successful hosting of it’s maiden International Tennis Federation’s Advantage All programme thus setting the pace for other African countries.
The workshop is being organised by the NTF in conjunction with the International Tennis Federation had no fewer than 20 female tennis officials from across the country in participation.
It aims to further deepen the domestication of the initiative which the country formally signed into in 2021 at the Annual General Meeting of ITF in Glasgow, Scotland.
Akindoju extolled the unprecedented milestones being recorded by the Officiating Department of the Federation.
He noted that officiating in Nigeria had advanced beyond one’s imagination, adding that the ladies in tennis officiating have done so well.
“What we are witnessing here today is another landmark to show that ladies are very interested in sports and in tennis in particular.
“As a Federation, “we are promoting gender fairness, gender equality in terms of opportunities and participation, and have put in place a well monitored and guided mechanism to ensure that no body is treated unfairly”, Akindoju said.
Acting Chairman of the Nigeria Tennis Umpires Association (NTUA), Rose Abu encouraged the participants to make adequate use of the opportunity to develop and sharpen their officiating knowledge and skills.
Abu also thanked the ITF for endorsing the event as well as commended the effort and commitment of the President of NTF and the country’s Officiating Manager, Kehinde Ijaola for making the day a reality.
Gold Badge Chair Umpire and an Advantage All Global Ambassador, Eva Asderaki-Moore led a plethora of virtual international goodwill messages from female tennis Umpires across the world to the participants.
With the theme, Tennis Officiating: Place, Value Of Women In Officiating And Empowerment, the workshop had series of paper presentations on topical issues.
NAN also reports that a minute silence was earlier observed in honour of the immediate past Nigeria’s Advantage All Ambassador and one of the country’s finest tennis officials, late Arinola Isa-Banire who died in July 2023.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)