Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdurazaq has approved the sum of 20
Million Naira for the staging of the 7th edition of Kwara State Sports
festival.
This was made known on Tuesday at a press briefing during the
inauguration of Main Organizing Committee(MOC) head at the Conference
Hall of the Kwara State Ministry of Youths and Sports Development.
The Director of sports, Kwara State Sport Council, Coach Tunde Kazeem
stated this while fielding questions by the newsmen.
According him, “the executive governor has made available a sum of 20
million naira towards the takeoff the 7th edition of the festival.”
“The festival will features about 25 sporting event slated to
commenced between 5th to 11th January,2020.”
Kazeem further enumerated touch-of-unity, hoisting of all the Local
Government Areas’ flags to indicate their attendance and readiness for
participating in the championship and other new activities that will
be incorporated into the 7th Edition of the festival.
He however appluaded the resolve of the Kwara State Governor to make
Kwara a hub for sports, stating that sports can be used for revenue
generation.
Earlier, the permanent Secretary, Kwara State Ministry of youth and
sport development, Alh. Shuaib Oke credited to governor AbdulRazaq,
the aggressive and stellar development the State has been witnessing
since few months back, stating that it is the vehement pursance of
Governor’s vision that is turning things around in the Sports and the
other sectors, as premium is placed on sports as a tool for national
unity and vessel for economic development.
He explained that it is against the backdrop of the vision that the
new Administration’s focus on sports is grounded on the principle of
“Community sports development strategy” enforced through the
provision of standard sports facilities right from the grassroot.
While thanking the State Government for its passion for sports
rejuvenation, the Permanent Secretary said that the last edition of
this festival was held in 1984, bemoaning the ‘decay’ that had plagued
the State in the meantime.
Akanbi then enjoined members of the Main Organising Committee, coupled
with the sub-committees ranging from Accreditation, Ceremonial,
Technical, Accommodation and Venue, Media and Publicity, and Security,
to work assiduously by way of ensuring that the State has a befitting,
hitch-free and successful festival as scheduled.
He noted that the 2020 Kwara Sports Festival, which holds between 5th
and 11th of January next year, will parade both male and female
participants, who will be from different teams drawn from all the
sixteen Local Government Areas in the State.
The sports fiesta, which will be used as a test-run to harness,
identify and hunt for talents, that will later represent the State in
the various athletic games nationally and internationally, will
involve twenty-five activities like football, volley balk, handball,
cricket, boxing, badminton, table tennis, wrestling, scrabble, ayo
opan and others.
In his remarks, a retired veteran Sports journalist who also double as
the Vice-Chairman of the Committee, Ahmed Adio, charged the
representatives of the sixteen LGAs to redouble their efforts in
enlightening parents on the necessity to let their children embrace
sports, justifying that numerous benefits are in sports.
Also in attendance were the Director, Personnel, Finance and Supply,
Alhaja Afusat Afolabi, Director, Youth Development, Alhaja Aishat
Mohammed, Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Alhaja Taibat
Mustapha, Deputy-Director, Sports Development, Mallam Ibrahim Bako and
others.
