Victorious members of Team Nigeria to the World Youth Scrabble Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are due in Abuja on Wednesday.
The team of four players and one official is expected to touch down in the nation’s capital by 12.05pm aboard Ethiopian Airlines.
Team Nigeria through Sophia Ebube Ekeruche, won the Best Female crown at the World Youth Scrabble Championships, the first time a wordsmith from the continent is achieving such a feat.
Only last month, Sophia Ebube Ekeruche, made history by winning the U-15 category at the African Youth Scrabble Championships in Kenya, the first female to do so and did that without dropping a game.
Captain of Team Nigeria, Abdulqudus Olawale Aliu, narrowly missed the first position in the World to Madhav Gopal Kamath of India. Aehzam Ahmed of Pakistan came third.
Shortly after this historic outing by Team Nigeria, the President of Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), Engineer Olobatoke Aka, said; “Nigeria scrabble has come of age, we have come to prove again that it’s not only in the adult scrabble that we are good, we have youth coming from behind and winning is another bold statement.”
Aka explained that, after conquering Africa in the U-15 and U-19 categories, Nigeria has shown to the world that they are not just African giants but also the world’s best.
“We only missed the top prize by whiskers. I’m elated with this excellent result in Malaysia and we will begin preparing for the next World Youth Scrabble Championships in Kenya next year very early and I’m confident we shall win it,” the NSF President said.