President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has described the National Youth Games which kick started in Asaba, Delta State as the vision of hope for the country’s sports.
The President who spoke through the Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enough at the opening ceremony inside the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, stressed that there was no better time than now to stage this NYG after the poor outing at the Paris Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games where Team Nigeria won seven medals.
He however stressed that the country’s athletes did better at the Paralympics, saying “there is an urgent need to re-strategize for Nigeria’s sports to return to winning ways. One of the reasons our sports is on the decline is age falsification. We need to get it right at this level.”
President Tinubu confirmed that his government was determined to turn around the situation.
“My administration is dedicated to repositioning sports for a better tomorrow. When I came here for the opening ceremony of the seventh edition of the National Youth Games last year, I was barely two weeks old in office. I can proudly say that there is a drastic improvement in the opening ceremony this year, ” he noted.
Tinubu urged all Nigerians, particularly stakeholders in the sports industry, to join hands with the Sports Ministry in its desire to change the face of the nation’s sports.
Governor Sherrif Oborevwori said the aim of hosting the National Youth Games was to discover young athletes to replace ageing ones, adding that Delta being the home of sports in Nigeria would continue to lead the way.
Oborevwori said: “Nigeria’s performance at major international sporting events is on the decline. It may not be the problem of the sports minister. We need to tackle the issue together.
“I expect old records to be broken and new ones set in this year’s National Youth Games. Delta is proud to partner with the Federal Ministry of Sports in hosting this Games to reposition our sports.
“There is a good result from hosting these games because, you can see this last Olympics in Paris, our daughter, Favour Ofili did very well even though she did not win a medal. She is a product of these games.
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“So, in this year’s games, we are looking for a talent better than Ofili. I assure our people that this year will be better than last year.”
He urged all the athletes to compete fairly saying: “You are on your way to winning medals for Nigeria at the Olympic Games.
“There is a good result from hosting these games because, you can see this last Olympics in Paris, our daughter, Favour Ofili did very well even though she did not win a medal. She is a product of these games.
“So, in this year’s games, we are looking for a talent better than Ofili. I assure our people that this year will be better than last year.”
Oborevwori also urged the sports ministry to as a matter of urgency reverse the age limit of participation in the National Youth Games to its original U-17 from the present U-15 so that athletes discovered can easily form the bedrock of the National U-20 teams.
The Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, LOC, Chief Solomon Ogba, said all that is needed to make Nigerian youths happy throughout the Games have been put in place.
He thanked the governor for giving the LOC and Delta Sports Commission the moral and financial support to host the Games.
After the opening ceremony activities, athletes from various states will begin their search for medals at this edition of the Youth Games.
Cyclists from various states will hit the road for the first medals of the Asaba 2024 edition.
Over 6,000 athletes and 1000 officials are taking part in the Games.
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