The Honorable Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh has assured the leadership of Gaming sports, otherwise known as the eSports federation that Nigeria will embrace the operations and activities of the game.
The Minister stated this in his office at the Moshood Abiola national stadium, when he placed host to members of the Nigerian eSports Federation led by its President, Mr Clinton Agbor Ayuk who paid him a courtesy call on Thursday in Abuja.
While speaking, the Hon Minister said, the potentials for the growth and progress of the sport appears incredible. He believes that if sports as one of the sectors that gives Nigerian youths the greatest approximation of social inclusiveness, eSports should serve as a guarantee in tackling issues of poverty, insecurity and even much more.
“It does appear to me that the potentials for the growth and for the progress and development of eSports as a sport in our country appear incredible”
“From the little understanding of this sports that I have, it appears as a ministry and as a country we cannot continue to ignore the activities and operations of eSports, because I find out whether we recognize it or not, this game is going on”
“I believe for example that in promoting sports as one of the sectors that gives us the greatest approximation of social inclusiveness, as one of the sectors that takes care of unemployment, it can take care and alleviate people’s poverty”
“One of the things I expect for example is that even in terms of taking care of the security challenges in the country, my hope is that eSports more than guarantees us more than all of that”
Meanwhile, President of the Nigerian eSports Federation, Mr Clinton Agbor Ayuk said the purpose of the visit is to identify with the Minister who has no bias for other sports, regardless of what their status is in the country.
Mr Clinton however used the occasion to intimate the Hon Minister in the number of competitions they have participated in and what eSports have achieved within the last 8 years of it’s existence which also includes their latest outing to Saudi Arabia for the Afro Arab championship where they had about 200 hundred players the federation took to Saudi Arabia for that championship.
“We came to see you as a Father, that’s because we have heard you times without number say you are a father of all sports and so we felt it will be right for us to come and identify with you, to confirm to the world that this ministry is a ministry of the entire sporting activities”
They disclosed to him that the Nigerian eSports community is made up of about 25 states associations already affiliated to the federation, where they have been engaging players in their Gaming activities across the country.
eSports is believed to be the fastest growing sports globally, that’s according to the secretary of the Nigerian eSports Federation Mr Armstrong Ogwuche, who also said eSports is generally accepted by the Nigerian youth, and a multiple billion naira project that is growing which he believes Nigeria have the potentials to be an emerging market.
“Nigerians are good in programing, they’re good in computer science, the industry provides a significant boast to the global economy. one of the best players in the world is a Nigerian and we can harness these potentials, I want to believe we will stand out in no distant future”
“Parts of the benefits of eSports is not limited to sign up fees for our players, we have areas like media right and advertising, eSports events attracts viewership leading to lucrative media right deals and advertising of opportunities, they are revenues from TEC innovation and many more” he concluded.
