The stage is set for Abuja to host the maiden edition of the Organisation of Military Sport in Africa (OSMA) Games scheduled to hold form October 9th to 17th 2021.
President of Organisation of Military Sports in Africa, Brigadier General Maikano Abdullahi, told journalists in Abuja that the main features of the games would be football, golf and marathon race.
He said that the 347 participating soldiers would be drawn from the Sahel nations including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Benin Republic and Libya.
General Abdullahi added that while eight countries will participate in golf tournament, 12 countries will participate in football and marathon.
Abdullahi, who is also the Vice President, International Military Sports Council, said the sports fiesta will not only serve as instruments for promotion of multilateral friendship and unity.
Furthermore, he stated that it will also send signals to the outside world that the Sahel nations are united despite the differences in culture and colonial experiences, even as they contend with common security challenges.
According to him, “the aim and objective of the championship is to unite the armed forces of the Sahel region and our brothers in Africa. Fighting is won by any means and sports is one of them. Sports is one of the non-kinetic that can mellow down the effects of war.
“We want to send a message to the world that the Sahel countries are together. It is in our tradition to compete without a fixed prize. Our prize is the participation and to bring peace.
“Marathon is a full marathon of 42.195km race that our soldiers are officers are going to participate. they will show their strength, stamina and work out.”
