Abia Governor, Alex Oti, has been applauded for his support to sports development in the state since coming into office this year.
Abia State Director of Sports, Isaac O. Isaac, disclosed this in a chat with Sportsday during the 7th National Youth Games which ended in Asaba, Delta state, on Saturday.
“When I say he is a sports loving governor, it’s not an understatement. His moral and financial support has been amazing”.
” Our being here to compete with other states in this competition is as a result of his magnanimity and love for sports”.
“Beyond that, he has been able to create an enabling environment and support for the teeming youths where a lot of them have now become the bread winners of their families”.
Speaking on how to sustain the heights that have been achieved in the area of youth sports development and talent discovery, Isaac said he is ready to improve on the template which was employed by the state at the youth Games for future successes.
“What we want to do is to prepare these young athletes for future competitions in order to build them into the twinkle, twinkle little stars that will one day become the diamonds in the sky”.
He added that one of the major tasks before him is to make sure the athletes are monitored they return to school, as well as send technocrats to train and mentor them during holiday programmes. According to him, this programme will apply to the athletes that were discovered, those who won medals and those who did not win medals at the NYG.
While disclosing that a programme to be known as “Each One, Catch One” would be put in place to encourage the athletes to keep them in competitive mood during holidays, the Director of Sports thanked Nigeria’s Pillar of Sports, Chief Donatus Ejidike, for recognizing and rewarding Team Abia’s Esther Ezenwa, with the sum of N50,000 after she became the first athlete to win Gold medal in the 45kg Weightlifting event for female at the just ended National Youth Games.
“I’m happy and overwhelmed with what Chief Ejidike has done. I can’t thank him enough because his support will go a long way in propelling the younger athletes to strive to do well in future outings”
“Even though we did not finish tops on the overall medals table, it is on record that Abia state won the first Gold medal in the entire competition, and that feat which was history making by all standards can’t be erased until the 8th edition of the Games”, Isaac concluded.
