Nigeria Teqball Federation has donated teqball tables to 29 of the country’s 36 states ©NIQTEQ

Nigeria Olympic Committee President Habu Gumel has pledged to help the development of teqball "move faster" in Africa after tables were delivered to 29 of the country’s 36 states.

Gumel is also the head of the Nigeria Teqball Federation (NIQTEQ), which made the donation in collaboration with the International Federation of Teqball.

Among the states to receive teqball equipment was the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja.

According to Nigerian newspaper Leadership, Gumel said the donation would help the states and schools in six geo-political zones to develop teqball across Nigeria.

"We want to make the game to move faster and be recognised in Africa, we want to ensure that in Africa, Nigeria is the best in terms of teqball development," said Gumel.

"We have 29 states and in the next two years I believe teqball will be acceptable in all states and there will be a lot of drive.

"We are going to work with the ministry and very soon we’ll start attending international competition."

Sandor Beer, Hungarian Ambassador to Nigeria, said the relationship with the Nigerian Government was continuing to improve.

"The purpose of this collaboration is to strengthen the bilateral relations between our countries and offer a wonderful opportunity to hatch young athletes," said Beer.

Habu Gumel, head of both the Nigeria Olympic Committee and Nigeria Teqball Federation, wants to develop the game in Africa ©Getty Images
Habu Gumel, head of both the Nigeria Olympic Committee and Nigeria Teqball Federation, wants to develop the game in Africa ©Getty Images

Ndudi Edede, general secretary for NIQTEQ, said the popularity of teqball had gone from strength to strength since the sport was introduced to Nigeria for the first time by the Hungarian embassy in 2018.

"We have 29 member states including FCT and we are working hard to have all the 36 states of the Federation very soon," said Edede.

"I think it’s going to help a lot, because since inception, we had just three teqball tables in the country and this has slowed the growth of the game in Nigeria.

"Now, 56 tables have been donated by Hungary embassy, meaning there is going to be a lot of improvement soon.

"In our plan to spread the game, we used certain criteria in the distribution of the tables.

"We are giving the last year’s best two NPFL (Nigeria Professional Football League) clubs Enyimba FC and Plateau United tables.

"We are giving the four best NWFL (Nigeria Women Premier League) clubs River Angels, Bayelsa Queen, Kogi Confluence and Nassarawa Amazon one each.

"We will also give two school in each geopolitical zone and recreation centres.

"We are still expecting more."

Edede said the Federation was looking to stage tournaments in the country as well as training for coaches and referees.