One of our desires has always been to improve on the technical standards of Nigerian Karate;. Therefore, it was decided, as Technical Director of the Lagos State Karate Association ten years ago, that one of our programmes should be an exclusively female event, also open to female practitioners in the West African Sub-region and Africa, in order to encourage them to come out en masse.
This decision was also taken because it was realised that there have been no karate events in Nigeria that focus only on women. It is believed that if an event is created just for them, the
response and turnout will be unprecedented, and they will work hard to develop their technical skills.
The other, quite importantly, was to also create awareness and encourage women to learn self-defence, primarily because of the increased spate of rape and domestic violence witnessed in Nigeria and the world at large. Since the commencement of this event, each year it runs, the patronage has increased, and vast improvements have been observed. We continue to observe the passion and commitment with which our female athletes have persevered in order to better improve their skills. Not only have we witnessed this improvement from our female athletes, but from our coaches and referees as well. Kudos to you all!
Nothing gives me greater joy than to see what we have been able to achieve over the years. It has not been a singular effort. We look forward to receiving each and every one of you in November!
Hajiya Zainab Saleh
Board Member, Karate Federation of Nigeria (KFN), Vice Chairperson, Lagos State Karate Association (LSKA) Judge, World Karate Federation (WKF) Referee, African Karate Federation (UFAK), Referee.
