The Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) said Nigeria will assist other West African countries to improve the standard of badminton in the region, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

Kabiru Badamasuiy, President of the BFN, announced this on Sunday in Abuja during a meeting of the zone two region of the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA).

"Nigeria is highly developed relatively and we are involving other countries that are less developed to improve badminton in the continent," he said.

He said Nigeria will cooperate with other countries to organize more tournaments so that players will be exposed to good competition.

According to him, this would in turn improve the game in Nigeria through regular interactions between coaches and the players. Nigeria was hosting the BCA training program and regional meeting for the first time.

Eight countries that attended the program from the West African region include Congo, Togo, Equatorial Guinea, and Central African Republic.

Others are Benin Republic, Cameroon, Ghana and the host country Nigeria.

(Xinhua News Agency July 1 2008)