It is with great pleasure that I proudly welcome you to the ninth edition of the Zainab Saleh International Female Karate Open Championship, which is scheduled to take place between the 2nd – 5th of November 2023, at the Dr. Molade Okoya Thomas Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surfleet, Lagos.
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 have to work 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. We look forward to receiving each and every one of you in November!
Hajiya Zainab Saleh
Board Member, Karate Federation of Nigeria (KFN) Judge, Vice Chairperson, Lagos State Karate Association (LSKA), World Karate Federation (WKF), Judge African Karate Federation (UFAK), Referee.