Cricket: Nigeria Wins ICC Development Award For Africa
The Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), has won the International Cricket Council (ICC) Development regional Award for Africa.
The NCF achieved the feat following her nomination under the ‘Cricket for Good Social Impact Initiative of the Year.’
ICC had announced five global nominees for the award with Nigeria as the only African member-nation on the list. According to ICC, the NCF was recognised for using cricket as a tool for engaging internally displaced refugees in the country.
“In Africa, this award was won by Nigeria, who have been using cricket as a tool for engaging and assisting in the development of internally displaced refugees as a result of the violence within the country,” ICC said.
“Over 2,000 children are involved in the programme, which deploys coaches to teach cricket skills as well as provide humanitarian aid to the significant number of people impacted by these issues. “
“Thanks to the introduction to these areas, there is hope of establishing representative teams in structured competitions, creating a pathway through one day for the national team.”
Nigeria won the award for the Best Grassroots Initiative of the Year in 2019, through the Naija Kids Cricket and the South-South summer slam programmes.
In 2020, Nigeria also won the Cricket Female Initiative of the Year Award through the Girls Aspire Sports Initiative.
Chidi Nwoke/The Guardian.
