The Amateur Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation of Nigeria (ABBFN), in conjunction with the International Fitness & Bodybuilding Federation (IFBB) will stage the maiden Mr. Universe Nigeria Championship for Men and Women tomorrow 21 October 2023 at Muson Center Lagos.
The president of ABBN Mr Soye Elekima explained today at the weigh-in for the competition in Lagos that the international event was an opportunity to create a platform to harness the body building culture among Nigerian youths so that they could become useful and reliable members of the society.
“Bodybuilders are a bit stigmatized, either they refer to them as thugs or they refer to them as bouncers or they refer to them as fools that are not really identifiable with the society,” Elekima said.
“As the case may be things have to change. Arnold Schwarzenegger went through all of these and became two time Governor of California, that’s how these athletes would have to view themselves.”
Touching on the rudiments of the game, the veteran bodybuilder said, “But the thing is first we need to have proper understanding of what bodybuilding is all about, it’s not just mere extension of the flesh. It’s all about going through the rigorous programmes that have to do with your diet plans, conditioning, training principles and all of that.
“So bodybuilding is one key thing that’s really going to help you because quite a lot of youths today find it very attractive. So if we don’t look for a way to grab them together, we might be unwillingly encouraging the widespread production of criminals and outlaws that will be at the beck and call of mischief makers,” Elekima stated.
On the area of health benefits for participants in bodybuilding, Soye said, “But beyond that, body building is what is gonna make you healthy. There is a postulation by WHO that lots of people meet early deaths due avoidable conditions such as obesity, arthritis and many more and the cure lies outside medicine, beyond the use of drugs.
“The panacea that exists is fitness. For that reason bodybuilding is an integral part of fitness.”
The ladies are not left out in the opportunities that are numerous in the sport.
“We are looking at this beyond what bodybuilding is. We also have the fit model. And this is where the modelling agencies need to key in. So we want our girls to come out and be part of this. We want our girls to be part of what fitness is all about. There are lots of opportunities that is out there for us to achieve.” Elekima concluded.
On her part, the president of Latvian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation Mrs Kristina Vedernikova advised aspiring upcoming female fit models to have well set goals and find the right trainers to know the rules that would help me step onto the bigger stage.
Reacting to the prospect of the sports in Nigeria, a representative from the office of the president of IBBF Mr Victor Hernandez stated that with more Championships and sponsors the various parts of bodybuilding would grow bigger in Nigeria.
The Mr Universe Nigeria Championship tomorrow will have in the men’s category; classic physique, body building and muscular physique, while the women’s category has bikini, body fitness and wellness.
Bodybuilders and fit models from various countries are already in Nigeria for tomorrow’s event.
Top three athletes in each category will be awarded with medals, the best six athletes from each category will be awarded with a Certificate of Excellence while overall winners will go home with a trophy.
Top 6 athletes in each of the senior categories will receive points to the 2023 IFBB World Tour Ranking according to the Level 3 scale.
The athletes expected to depart for their various countries on Sunday 22 October 2023.
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