Sports
Gombe Govt To Revive School Sports Festival
The Gombe State Government says it is set to revive school sports festival as a tool towards fostering peace and unity while discovering young athletes for the state and the country.
The Executive Chairman, Gombe State Sport Commission, Mr Hamza Soye made this disclosure when members of the state’s chapter of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) paid him a courtesy visit in Gombe, yesterday.
According to Soye, the event will also be used to curb the menace of drug abuse by the youth while also fostering peace and unity that will galvanise more developments for the state.
He stated that the event which was last held in 2001 had been captured in the 2020 budget adding “we had wanted to do it before the National Sports Festival in Edo but for time constraint.
“We have taken it as a challenge and included it in the 2020 budget and at any time we do it after the National Sports Festival it is still right.
“We are committed to grassroots sports development.
“We are not just going to organise sports festival only but also school sports competitions to ensure that we discover more talents that will represent the state and the nation at large.
“Since the focus of this administration is the people, and the youth being the future, we are going to revive sports festival to discover talents and professionalise their talents for them so that talents are not wasted.
“We are passionate about this because most athletes that performed in years past were products of school sports festivals and competitions.
“We will support our young minds to realise their potential in sports,’’ he said.
The executive chairman hinted that the reward system for the youth who make the state proud would be reviewed to ensure “those who win gold or medals for the state are encouraged through special recommendation for jobs’’.
He said that the event when started would draw the interests of the youth away from drugs that presently threaten their health and potential, adding “when sports engage you, nothing else will matter.’’
He also hinted that sports development in the state would be comprehensive and not just on football, stressing that such will allow the commission to discover varieties of athletes.
He decried that private stakeholders had always seen sports funding as an ‘exclusive preserve of government or social services’.
“This should not be the case. Well-meaning Nigerians must support the Federal Government and states in that regard.’’
On the level of preparation for the National Sports Festival in Edo, Soye said, “we are doing everything possible to prepare the team and very soon we will embark on close camping to monitor the team.
“With all we are doing and the high level of preparations and the team spirit we are going to do well in Edo and make the state proud again.’’
Earlier, the state’s SWAN Chairman, Mr Haliru Teli commended the state government for its interest in reviving grassroots sports, stressing that such was needed to raise more athletes to address the dearth of athletes in the country.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.