Sports
Rivers To Unveil Blueprint On School Sports
The Rivers State Government will soon unveil a blue-print on school sports development.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on School Sports, Aribitonye Okiri made this known, over the weekend, in a chat with Tidesports in his office in Port Harcourt.
He stated that already, a contingent of intellectuals, stakeholders and philanthropists have been invited to draft the blue print on school sport development in the state, subject to ratification by the Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Okiri said as his office is saddled with the responsibility of school sports development; he would ensure that relevant stakeholders in education and sport sector been consulted to achieve the aim, as he intend to engage youths in schools to learn with their educational curriculum in line with the National School Sport Federation.
He noted that budding talents would be discovered and harnessed for future engagements as well as further help their physical and mental capacity.
Okiri said that he intends to use the power of sport to create wealth and also as a means to engage youths, dissuade them from social vices, restiveness and to build friendship and peaceful coexistence.
The Governor’s aide hinted that plans were on for a school sports implementation policy that would look at the past and create capacity for the state, stressing that there are enormous sporting potentials in the schools and need to collaborate with the various sport Associations, as sport is capital intensive.
According to him, investment in sport is one of the biggest brands in the world and therefore all hands must be on deck as everybody has a part to play in sport development.
Okiri further hinted that the office is in talking terms with ANCOOPS both public and private, liaising with the Ministry of Education as they are the Supervising Authorities, Rivers State School Board and Universal Basic Education (UBE) with a view to getting the best in collective page as to identify challenges and see how to attract attention to solving those problems inorder to achieve the goal of development school sport in the state.
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.
