By Victor Kanayo
Nigeria’s Wahid Enitan-Oshodi has been unanimously elected as the 6th President of the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF).
Enitan-Oshodi emerged during the elective Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Oshodi becomes the second Nigerian to lead the continental body, after Engr. Segun George who served from 1988 to 1996.
As the Executive Vice President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), Oshodi succeeded Egypt’s Khaled El-Salhy, who completed three terms as ATTF President.
The 40-member electorate unanimously supported Enitan-Oshodi, reflecting overwhelming delegate support for his leadership over the next four years. With this election, Oshodi is the only Nigerian heading a continental sports organisation.
Cameroon’s Alfred Bagueka was also unanimously elected as the Deputy President of ATTF. Germain Karou and Andrew Mudibo were elected Executive Vice Presidents (EVP) for Technical and Development, respectively.
The positions of EVP Administration, Finance, Media/PR, and Marketing saw keen competition among candidates from Egypt, Algeria, South Africa, Sudan, Ethiopia, Mauritania, and Uganda. For EVP Marketing, Ghana’s Mawuko Afadzinu triumphed over Uganda’s Robert Jjagwe with 22 votes to 18.
Ethiopia’s Tesfaye Bizane won EVP Media/PR with 29 votes. South Africa’s Hajera Kajee secured EVP Finance with 20 votes, and Egypt’s Moataz Ashour won EVP Administration with 32 votes.
Also, Nigeria’s Olabanji Oladapo was elected into the ITTF Council as one of the eight-member councils from Africa.
Oladapo contested with 15 others, with eight of them making the list.
Meanwhile, Nigeria has reclaimed Africa’s Senior Men’s Team title for the first time in seven years.
The team, inspired by Quadri Aruna, Olajide Omotayo, and Kuti Matthew, defeated Algeria 3-1 in the final to grab the title they last won in 2018 in Mauritius at the ITTF Africa Championship.
