Momo Division: Ntumfon Barrister Ndangoh uses sports to promote peace, dev't.

The multi award-winning community development promoter made the fresh call in Mbengwi over the weekend. This was during the grand finale of the maiden edition of the Meta Unity Sports Tournament for Peace and Development.

The competition that saw the participation of ten clubs was organised by the Ndangoh Tah Calvin Foundation, a nonprofit organisation founded by Nfumfon Barrister Ndangoh Tah. The crowd-polling ceremony was held at the Mbengwi Municipal Stadium.

The event was attended by sons and daughters of the Mbengwi, Ngie, Njikwa and Batibo Subdivisions that make up the Meta Clan. It featured the final of the men’s football and women’s handball tournaments, jointly named the Meta Unity Cup Tournament. 

It also importantly featured a cross-country race, tagged the Meta Unity Cross Country Race. It saw the participation of 61 athletes.

Njembeng Football Club defeated archrivals, Tondig Football Club 4-1 in the men’s football final, while Tobo Handball Club recorded a dominant 11-6 goals win over Tondig Handball Club in the women’s handball final. 

Peace, unity lone dev’t perquisites

The head of the Ndangoh Tah Calvin Foundation, Ntumfon Barrister Ndangoh Tah, in a statement at the end of the finals, expressed satisfaction with the quality of performance displayed by the competing teams and athletes in the course of the different competitions.

He said the performances showcased the Meta Clan as a people who are willing to love and show concern for peace and development. 

These values, he said, pushed him to embark on the journey to further inculcate the spirit into Meta people through the sports bonanza.

Despite expressing satisfaction, the legal luminary urged the population to remain focused and fight for peace and unity to reign in the area. 

He insisted that peace and unity are the only weapons that the community can use to succeed in its quest to have a timely and sustainable development. 

Ntumfon Ndangoh Tah urged the population to prioritise self-peace, insisting such is the most strategic way through which Meta indigenes can easily embrace peace among themselves, cultivate the spirit of unity and resultantly lay the much-needed groundwork for development to follow in the area. 

No political intensions behind initiative

Ntumfon Ndangoh Tah, who is revered member of the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, in his statement also emphasised on the non-political nature of the just-ended competition.

He said the idea to organise the competition was born from and still remains by his will to use sports as a tool to galvanise the population to come together as a people and strategise to better their community. 

“This is a competition that has nothing to do with politics. It has no political intentions. It is football. It is sports. It is development. It is unity. It is peace,” the development-driven community leader said.

“We can only develop this land if we are peaceful with ourselves and make sure that we are each other’s keeper,” he added.

Other elite encouraged to support initiative 

Besides emphasising on the apolitical nature of the competition, the vision bearer, Ntumfon Ndangoh Tah, also promised to further develop the scheme.

He notably said that the 2024 edition, which was the inaugural series of the competition, was the tip of an iceberg.

He said he will work on ensuring that the bonanza does not only become an annual gathering but expands to feature several other sports. 

Notable among them, he noted, will be the introduction of a horse race, which was introduced in the 2024 programme but abandoned due to the heavy rains that disrupted the final day.

Population hail initiative

In separate reactions at the end of last Sunday’s finals, the indigenes of Meta Clan hailed the initiative introduced by Barrister Ndangoh Tah.

A traditional ruler said the people of Meta are hugely happy and satisfied with the scheme, especially as the inaugural edition came after the ongoing crisis in the North West and South West Regions had negatively played down on the organisation of such events in Meta Clan. 

“I want to appreciate the organiser and the sons and daughters of Meta Clan for organising something like this. Since the start of the ongoing crisis, activities like this have not been easy to come by. That is why we are very happy to be together because football is a game that brings people together,” the traditional ruler said.

The Fon called on God Almighty to continue blessing the organiser.

“We thank God for giving the organiser the strength for organising the competition. We call on the people of the Meta Clan to support this initiative because we know that through sports, we can achieve peace. We can all see that the population that is here today is happy,” he stated. 

Athletes bag prizes, express gratitude 

All the competing teams that made it to the finals of the different competitions received handsome prizes. 

The distinguishing athletes in the cross-country race also received similar prizes. 

The athletes and representatives of the various teams expressed gratitude for the prizes received. 

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3205 of Wednesday August 21, 2024