The Automobile and Touring Club of Nigeria (ATCN) has revealed its plans for motorsport in Nigeria, with a major emphasis on training, promotion, and participation in key global events.
Mr. Ishaku Bamayi, President of ATCN, told select sports journalists in Abuja that the club intends to develop more sporting talents at the grassroots level across the country, who will then do Nigeria proud.
Mr. Bamayi, in particular, stated that the sports club has increased its efforts to enroll 150 students in karting programs at various schools.
He also stated that special emphasis will be placed on discovering and training young girls in the sport as part of programs known as ‘Girls on Track,’ which are designed by the women’s wing of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).
He said;
The essence of these programme is to promote motoring sports at the grassroots level by targeting the young ones.
Please note that this trainings are part of the FIA motorsport development programmes.
We want to stir up interest of participants through karting in school in order to develop their skill or talent because many of you can build a career in motoring sports, which is a big business all over the world.
He claims that the 2023 Karting in school training will take place between April 7 and 10.
Mr. Bamayi also stated that the Nigerian motorsports body will train 35 young Nigerians to represent Africa in an international competition, with Senegal and Ivory Coast sharing the remaining 15 slots to complete the 50 for Africa.
According to ATCN Boss, other events this year include speed trials, digital games (epsport), and the Festival of Motorsport.
He also promised a training program for sports journalists.
Earlier, while highlighting the club’s many accomplishments, the ATCN President stated that the FIA was impressed, leading to increased international recognition of its activities and the appointment of Nigerians to the prestigious FIA committee.
Other ATCN achievements include hosting the 3rd African Regional Sport Congress in 2017, organizing the School Assessment – Make School Roads Safer to Save Children, organizing training for motorsport officials and marshals such as race directors, clerks of the course, stewards, motorsport safety marshals, and so on, and participating in the Gymkhana International Prize in Taipei, Taiwan in 2019.
Others include organizing karting in schools for school students aged 11 to 17, organizing the Festival of Motorsport: qualifier to the FIA Motorsport Games 2022, and participating in the FIA Motorsport Games 2022 in Marseille, France.
At the last Annual General Assembly of December, 2022, Mr. Michael Ango was elected as member and President of the FIA Ethics Committee while Mr. Denen Ikya was elected as a member. Furthermore, the World Motorsport Council elected the President of the ATCN Mr. Ishaku Bamaiyi as a member of the CIK-FIA International Karting and the FIA Drifting Commissions.
The elections are in recognition of the contributions and efforts made by the ATCN in developing motorsport in Nigeria and Africa.This has put us in a great position to achieve more and for this year, the ATCN has drawn up a unique calendar to spur faster development, equality, diversity and inclusion.
Thus, for a faster development process, we are in partnership with the Motorsport UK, India, Sri Lanka and Emirates Motorsport Organisation which is ATCN’s Regional Training Provider appointed by the FIA, Mr. Bamayi said.
ATCN was founded in June 2009 with the goals of training Nigerians and organizing motorsport events/championships on the one hand, and raising awareness for road safety, environmental issues, and other issues on the other.
ATCN is the Federation International de l’Automobile’s sole representative in Nigeria, with voting rights at the Annual General Assembly and other meetings.
According to Article 3.2 of its statutes on the Automobile Mobility and Tourism Arm, it was first affiliated with FIA. Because of its achievements on the Mobility Arm, the ATCN was granted the right to develop motorsport in Nigeria at the Annual General Assembly in December 2018. Our affiliation was moved to Article 3.1 as a result of this development (which deals with affiliates for both Sport and Mobility).
The FIA is the global motoring organization and the sole governing body of Motorsport worldwide, representing over 60 million road and track users from 246 member clubs.
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