By Our Correspondent

Japanese Badminton Federation, JBF has donated rackets it’s Nigeria counterpart Badminton Federation of Nigeria, BFN.

The Japanese Badminton Federation identified a number of countries for the donation of equipment with Nigeria being the only African country to benefit from the largesse. This is largely due to the progress and recognition that the game has recorded in the last few years in the country.

Consequently members of the board of the BFN led by it’s President, Francis Orbih, Esq. paid a courtesy visit to the Japanese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Nigeria, His Excellency, Yutaka Kikuta at the Japanese Embassy in Abuja Wednesday to gratitude for the gesture

It was initially conveyed to the BFN that the costs of clearing the items from the ports of entry and moving them to Abuja will be borne by BFN, but yesterday, the embassy agreed to bear all the costs incurred.

As a result of the delegation’s appeal, the Japanese Ambassador also agreed to sponsor a national championship in the name of the Ambassador just like the Korean Ambassador does for taekwondo. It was agreed that a convenient date will be arrived at for the championship.

The Badminton Federation of Nigeria delegation comprised of the President, Francis Orbih, Esq., the Vice President, Alhaji Mohammed Maina, board member Isaac Ogbole, the Federation Secretary General Austin Balewa, Team Manager Emmanuel Zira and Asst. Secretary General Lilian Ihegbu.

The visit was a tremendous success and will impact positively on the game in Nigeria.