Femi Atolagbe

Ondo State Government will continue to prioritize the needs and improve on the welfare of the people through sporting activities, Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Mr Bamidele Ologunloluwa has said.

He described sports as a platform for character and leadership development, which he said was not just a means of winning laurels alone.

The commissioner stated this while declaring open a one- day workshop organised for Sports Technocrats in the state, held at the annex hall of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Akure the state capital.

The event was themed: “The Role of School Sports in Nation Building”.

Ologunloluwa said it’s imperative to go back to school sports, saying school is the best arena to identify raw talents, nurture and promote them to stardom.

He added that sport is a veritable platform to positively engage youth at young age and keep them off social vices.

He identified poor and non -implementation of sports policy direction which he said led into sports apathy delinquencies and hindering the catch- them young syndrome.

According to him, “sports serve as a unifying factor in the nation, it provides golden opportunities for different ethnic groups across the state to interact ,form friendships that outlive the duration of the event and most importantly, inculcate the spirit of true sportsmanship totally different from the win at all cost and do or die syndromes.”

“The present government is committed to grassroots sports development , having invested much in this area of human endeavor.”

He admonished the participants to be attentive and ensure they put talents impacted into them to practice in their different place of work.

In her welcome address, the acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Mrs Foluke Tunde – Daramola said a critical assessment of the sports has shown a huge decline in the grassroots sports development in schools.

She added that the purpose of the workshop was to train and re- train the sports teachers and technocrats in the state on the need to improve the standard of sporting activities with a view to sustaining good health and physical fitness.

The resource persons, Professor PAT Oyeniyi of the department of Human Kinetics and Health education at Ekiti State University and Dr, Rasheed Oloyede of the department of Environmental and Sanitation, Federal University of Education, Ondo charged the participants to go back to their various local government to organize competitions and use it as a source of income generation.

They urged the sports Technocrats to ensure the money they generate is use to upgrade facilities in their schools.

They both conceded that sports is not only about competing, but teach moral and fundamental knowledge.