Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, has finished top of the medal table at the just-concluded North-East Nigeria University Games Association (NUGA) qualifying competition, winning 34 gold medals and 14 silver medals.
The tournament, hosted by Gombe State University, featured 11 universities from Zone M. Participating institutions included Sa’adu Zungur University, Gadau, Federal University of Health Sciences Azare, Federal University Gashua, Yobe State University, Federal University Kashere, University of Maiduguri, Borno State University, and the Nigerian Army University, Biu.
ATBU’s athletes dominated track and field, judo, taekwondo, table tennis, boxing, badminton, volleyball, and chess. The university’s clean sweep included double golds in 200m, 400m, hurdles, relays, javelin, long jump, triple jump, and both male and female judo categories.
In racket sports, the team triumphed in table tennis (male and female singles, mixed doubles, and team events), alongside victories in badminton and beach volleyball. The boxing and taekwondo squads also claimed gold in their respective categories.
Reacting to the performance, ATBU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ibrahim Hassan Garba, congratulated the contingent for what he described as an “enterprising and inspiring outing.”
“Our athletes have made the university proud and shown that ATBU is not only a hub of academic excellence but also a force in sports,” he said, pledging continued support to sustain the institution’s dominance in future competitions.
