Ex-Nigerian female athletes plan mini sports festival for youths

The Association of Former Female Athletes of Nigeria (AFFAN) says it will organise a mini sports festival for boys and girls in primary and secondary schools in the country to help curb crimes in the society.

Mrs Esther Aluko, President of AFFAN said this in Abuja during a press briefing to sensitise the public on the activities of the group particularly the effort to arrest youth restiveness and societal menace.

Aluko said the association with the primary aim of discovering, educating, empowering and mentoring Nigerian girls through sports was concerned about inculcating leadership values into the young ones through sports and education.

“The AFFAN mini sports festival will be in three categories, the primary, the junior and senior secondary school.

“The sports festival will help arrest youth restiveness and help produce future leaders that through participation in sports must have learnt core leadership values at tender ages such as team spirit, fair play, tolerance, commitment, dedication, respect and discipline necessary for nation building.

“At the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, the UN member States at the highest level recognised that sports is also an important enabler of sustainable development.

“It also valued the growing contribution of sports to the realisation of development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect as well as the contributions it makes to the empowerment of women and the young people.

“Sports is powerful tool to achieve the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the vast positive power and passion of sports will continue to bring people together, promoting a more inclusive and peaceful world through its universal values and principles,” Aluko said.

According to her, sports has played an important role in all societies and acted as a strong communication platform that can be used to promote the culture of peace and as such must be used to promote unity from schools.

She explained that a comprehensive programme for the mini sports festival would be unveiled in Abuja on Feb. 8, when the association would be formally inaugurated. (NAN)