TheCable

John Enoh, the minister of sports, says the leadership of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) has provided commendable development programmes that other federations can emulate.

Enoh gave the commendation on Tuesday at the reception for the cricket World Cup trophy in Abuja.

“It is amazing that just a few years ago, you couldn’t host anything because you lacked the facility but today you can boast of about six turf wickets facilities across the country,” he said.

The sports minister said the success of Nigerian cricket had “been planted over the years through the commitment of stakeholders”.

He also praised the Akpata-led administration for its “innovation”.

On his part, Uyi Akpata, president of NCF, said the significance of the trophy tour would be maximised by the federation for future development.

“Nigeria cricket is pleased to be the center point of the cricket world at the moment and I think this would spur us to excellence, even as I want to say we owe our sustained rise to contributions from the diplomatic community in the country, comprising Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and others who have demonstrated their belief in our programmes,” he also said.

The Cricket World Cup trophy, which arrived in Abuja on Tuesday, will proceed to Lagos on Wednesday before departing Nigeria on Thursday.