NCF set for biggest cricket festival ever in October

No fewer that 1000 school girls are expected to take part in the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC)/Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) Women’s Criio Festival.

Uyi Akpata, president of the NCF, said this on Tuesday at a media briefing aimed at analyzing activities by the federation in recent years.

Akpata, spoke on the backdrop of the federation’s partnership with the world governing body, ICC, and the opportunities the country has gained.

“We are going to have a launch of a super female involvement in cricket through a modified format. It is the women’s criio festival.

“We are bringing between 600 to 1000 school girls in Abuja to come and have fun and it is going to be on the back of the National Women Championship.

“We are going to have best female cricketers around and we will be inviting ICC women representative as well, and the criio template will be replicated to other parts of the country.

“ICC identified two countries in Africa, Nigeria and Rwanda to champion this initiative and this is because of what we have done to in women’s cricket.

“We have won global and continental awards and accolade in the cause of women’s cricket and we can as this investment bearing fruits already,’’ Akpata added.

On the federation’s achievements so far, Akpata said leadership and good governance structure played a key role.

“When we were riding on the back of serious misgivings about our leadership and governance, we revamped our leadership structure.

“At the time, it was led by Prof. Yahaya Ukwenya, a surgeon and myself, who was the vice president, though having a pedigree as one of the senior members of Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) at the time.

“It was not about credentials but about implementation.

“So, we put up that structure and the rest of the board came along and saw how deliberate we were in terms of transparency and they keyed in.

“This was to the extent that when the template of effective governance structure was given to associate countries in Africa by the ICC, they had to tell us to review and see whether it was consistent with best practices.

“That is what we did. Now, we have become a positive reference point and we must always align ourselves with ICC and their templates,’’ Akpata added.

Also at the event, the NCF brand ambassador for women’s cricket, Adaora Onyechere Sydney-Jack, said she would be using her experience in community journalism to drive awareness for the game.

“When I look at women’s cricket in the country, I see the future’s near.

“If we begin to appraise women’s cricket in countries like India, South Africa, Australia and more, we see that they have done well for themselves due to strategic partnerships.

“As a brand ambassador, that is the area I will be looking at strategic partnerships and community development.

“This is where you see cricket playing a key role and I will be using my brand as a mainstay in community journalism, that is an area I will need to drive,’’ Sdyney-Jack noted.