By Abel Leonard Nzwanke/lafia
The Governor of Nasarawa State, Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule, has expressed his administration’s poise to reform sports and youth development in the State.
The Governor, who was represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Youth Development, Sports and NGOs’ Matters, Kwanta Yakubu, disclosed this recently at the 2019 5th National Youth Games in Ilorin, Kwara State.
According to the SSA, “Governor Abdullahi Sule is highly committed to youth and sports development in Nasarawa State.
“Sports is a unifying factor and a terminator of youthful vices in the society. And His Excellency is poised to revamp sports and sporting activities in the State, which is why he inaugurated an 11-man Sports Reform Committee recently to change the narrative across the nooks and crannies of the State.
You could recall that the Governor Sule’s administration is less than four months old, and during the first Centenary Day Celebration, the Governor achieved tremendous breakthroughs in sports, one of which was the triumph of Nasarawa Amazons FC at the final of the 2019 Women’s Aiteo Cup in Kaduna.
Kwanta further said that Governor Sule has set up a working machinery to totally overhaul sports in the State.
“The sports overhaul will require organising Wards, Local Governments and Statewide programmes involving various sports with seasoned sports technocrats readily available to discover raw talents and nurture them.
“On sports facilities facelift, His Excellency is working tirelessly to rehabilitate old facilities, and construct new ones across the thirteen Council Areas of the State for general involvement, especially with premium being accorded to the construction of one new stadium in each of the two zones which are yet to have such sports facilities – Akwanga and Keffi.
“Currently, we are updating our facilities to meet global standards and where there is need for new ones to be constructed, we are equally working towards such.
“The Government has equally opened discussion with a firm based abroad to remodel the Sports Academy located in Akwanga and see how to use it as one of the budding grounds for grassroots talents discovery for the State and country at large, and once all these are set, we will then explore avenues to host the National Youth Games in the nearest future,” the SSA added.
Reacting to Team Nasarawa’s performance at the 2019 National Youth Games in Ilorin, Kwara State, the versatile Kwanta stated thus:
“As for the Youth Games here in Ilorin, as a young administration, we wanted to use this as a stepping stone to the level of totally overhauling the Sports subsector and place the state in the height of other successful Sports states in the country.
“Despite having limited time to prepare for this Youth Games, over ten(10) of our athletes were found to possess great sporting potentials by organisers of the Games, which is the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and have assured of taking it upon themselves to nurture these talents for global stardom.
“We are using this 2019 Youth Games as litmus test to prepare better and stronger for subsequent outings.
“While winning medals is very important at the Youth Games, participation and talents discovery to replace ageing ones are the most paramount reasons for staging the Youth Games.
“We are so proud of the coaches, the athletes, the State Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the entire Nasarawa State people for standing by Team Nasarawa and always representing the state at all levels of national discourse.
“We will not relent in further paying keen attention to talents discovered at the Games, and going back home, we will re-appraise our performance, see where we got it wrong, and come up with immediate solutions for podium height in the future.
“I want to implore everyone here that you should watch out for Team Nasarawa in subsequent events”, Kwanta assured.
