Northern Schools Storm Kogi for Milo Basketball Championship Secondary schools in the Northern region of Nigeria will converge in
Lokoja, on 24th May to battle who represents the region in the finals of the annual Nestle Milo Basketball Championship.
As the ongoing 15th edition of the Nestle Milo Basball Championship which got started in Enugu ends, Kogi zone will be a centre of
attraction as the Northern states competes in the male and female category respectively.
With curtain of the event drawn in Enugu which is the first zone, the explosive tournament continues in Kogi before Ondo and later Oyo in the playoff for the grand finale in Lagos.
Participating states are hosts Kogi, Adamawa, Jigawa, Sokoto, Taraba, Borno, kano, Kastina, Yobe and Zamfara.
The tournament in Kogi centre will be held at the ultra-modern Indoor Sports Hall of the Lokoja Confluence stadium.
The eight days tournament in Kogi which is the second centre for the annual event will run through April 24 to 1st of May.
Speaking to newsmen on readiness for the hosting while extolling the efforts of Milo in developing schools sports, the Kogi State
Commissioner of Education, Mrs Grace Elebiyo stated that the hosting will be an amazing one as the confluence state is ready to host the other nine northern states.
“We are prepared to receiving the participating states for the tournament and very anxious to get it started. I’m happy as lover of
school sports with programmes like this that aims to developing grassroots sports. We are happy Milo is doing this for the future of
our wards and sports in Nigeria,” she assured.
Details on the tournament made available by the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee and Kogi Education Ministry’s Director of Sports, Mr Abraham Ezekiel confirms May 24th-25th as the date for arrival, screening, pre-competition meeting and accreditation.
The statement also indicated that the tournament will commence fully on 26th of April to end on 30th April while May 1 will be the
departure date for visiting participating states.
Hosts, Kogi will be represented by Sacred Heart Marrist College, Ejule and Ajaokuta Steel Company Comprehensive Secondary School 1 in the male and female category respectively.
Kano and Taraba are the zone’s defending champions after defeating Zamfara and Kano in the boys and girls category respectively in 2012 play-offs hosted by Kogi.
