Inadequate facilities, bane of sports in Niger State- Nagya

Speaking to Trustsports in Abuja, the Director said immediately he was appointed to over see sports development at the grassroots, he undertook a tour of sports facilities in all the local government areas  of the state and discovered to his chagrin that the local governments lack the basic facilities in all sports. He explained that […]

Speaking to Trustsports in Abuja, the Director said immediately he was appointed to over see sports development at the grassroots, he undertook a tour of sports facilities in all the local government areas  of the state and discovered to his chagrin that the local governments lack the basic facilities in all sports.

He explained that the essence for which his office was created is to take sports down to the grassroots but going by what he saw on ground in all the local governments, development of sports at that level would certainly be a herculean task.

“I undertook a tour of all the local governments areas in the state to see the facilities and to meet with the Chairmen and Sports Secretaries of the Local governments. After rubbing minds with them, we discovered that we are lagging behind seriously”.

The Director disclosed that after the familiarization tour, he reported his findings to the ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and there and then decisions aimed at changing the face of grassroots sports in the state were taken.

 “We discovered that we do not have much to show in terms of sports at the local government areas. However, at the end of the familiarization tour, I submitted my findings to the ministry and there and then, salient decisions were taken to address the problems bedeviling grassroots sports in Niger State”.

Nagya said apart from a strong case for sports facilities which the ministry is favourably disposed to, programmes for youth sports development have been evolved by his office and already there are competitions on ground to keep the youths busy and away from social vices.

According to him, three sports namely, football, volley and athletics have been selected for take off of the developmental programmes but later on, more other sports would be brought on board.

He maintained that the move to identify budding athletes at the grassroots, especially at the primary school level is aimed at discovering and nurturing home athletes who would in future form the bedrock of the state athletes at both national and international events.

“Athletes discovered at the grassroots would form the bedrock of the sports council. There would be no need for us to go and look outside for athletes to represent the state. Niger State is one of the few states that believe in home grown athletes. We don’t go for mercenaries the way other states do”.