Scrabble: showcase the magic of Akwa-Ibom

It was the wise one who postulated that education comes one-forth from others, one-forth from experience, one-forth from travel and one-forth from the classrooms.

Pakorn of Thailand schooled in 'eba'

If his thought looks original and true (which I believe) it means that any time we travel becomes an opportunity to broaden our knowledge about the world and its peoples.

I have been to 35 states of Nigeria (as a journalist and athlete), the only two states I have not visited in my country are Akwa-Ibom and Bayelsa. In terms of progress and development, as I landed at the airport, I was not convinced. Along the long road to the heart of Uyo, I was searching for potholes, I tried to even get one, I could not.

The windy road to the Le Meridien was also not meeting my expectations. I volunteered to Kayode Adeniyi (of NTA) my views. I did not know he was nursing the same thought inside him. He had been here twice on journalistic calling but added, “value has been tremendously added by the current administration.”

Uyo welcomes parade of Scrabble afficionados

This experience is many times magnified when we ventured into the crannies of Uyo all because I wanted to be convinced that the Governor only did some parts and left some. Never knew his ordinary citizens would appreciate him the way they did in my several independent interviews.

As guest of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), I have for different reasons missed the last six invitations to attend the Godswill Akpabio International Scrabble championship, the world’s highest prized event in the board game.

No wonder, the NSF has acquired the most effective and efficient sports federation in Nigeria (in terms of activities and delivery both at the Continental and world stages). No sports federation nears their number of championships per annum nor the cash value attached to their prizes. I stand to be corrected.

As marks that the championship is gathering bigger dust, former world champion, Pakorn on arrival from Thailand savoured the thick air of Lagos on his way to Uyo. Veteran Jalani Naphtani and Fidelis Olotu came from United Kingdom. Sammy Okosagha strolled in like a feline last year to beat everybody and pranced back to the United Kingdom.