The people of Ekka autonomous community in Ezza North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State have expressed readiness to harness wrestlers through their age long wrestling festival for both national and international competitions.
Speaking at their annual wrestling festival known as “Mgba Ekka”, a retired universal boxing champion, Richard Nwoba, who grew up in the community, expressed optimism that the talents in Ekka, when properly harnessed, would boost economic growth of the state and Nigeria in general.
Nwoba called on the Nigerian Wrestling Federation as well as Boxing Confederations to synergise with the community to develop the talents for sports advancement.
He said, “Ekka people are known warriors; my boxing talent was developed from this community.”
Assuring of better planning for next year’s Mgbaekka festival, Nwoba said, “It shall be better planned by Nigeria Wrestling Federation and other international bodies. It is the people that qualify to reach finals that will fight at the finals and we will have weight categories. People will fight according to their weights. Next year, we will have foreign referees, judges and supervisors during the festival to harness talents. We are also looking at having Confederations of Boxing and Wrestling.”
Addressing spectators at the festival, the Secretary of the town union, Humphery Ekechi described the event as an ancestral inheritance where values for strength, endurance and bravery are not only celebrated but also passed down to other generations.
“The festival did not only highlight our age long traditional wrestling prowess and skills, but also served as a platform for social gatherings and the reaffirmation of our community’s bonds and togetherness. It is usually celebrated in either August or September annually. The festival is also a measure by the community to control, if not totally eradicate youth restiveness and reduce the rate of crimes. This festival was handed over to us by our forefathers,” he said.
On how the community moved from awarding male winners with maidens to giving out other prizes and cash, Ekechi said, “We the stakeholders task ourselves to buy motivating gifts like motorcycles, standing fans, flat screen televisions and provide cash prizes for winners. In the days of our fathers, the male overall winner was given the opportunity to choose his bride free of charge from unmarried girls in the community.”
The Commissioner for Rural Development in the state, Collins Ikeuwa Omabe, disclosed that the community had produced Nwoba, a global title holder who is currently serving as a consultant in the game in Egypt.
