Forum to  honour Governors of Kaduna, Kano Katsina, Sokoto  for  2021 Merit Awards 

By; Mike Odeh James

Kebbi State has confirmed its readiness to host the 6° Edition of National Youth Games (NYG) Zonal Teams Sports Elimination for the North West Zone.

This was contained in a communiqué issued after the Northwest Zone Sports stakeholders Directors of Sports and Zonal sports Coordinators Meeting held at Giginya Memorial Stadium, Seat of the Caliphate, Sokoto between August 10 to 17, 2021.

According to the communiqué jointly signed by Zonal Sports Officer, North-West Zone, Kaduna,

Idris Abdullahi and Chairman.

The North-West Directors of Sports Forum, Alh. Bashar Maizare,   Kano State expressed readiness to serve as standby hosts for the elimination.

“All states in attendance have submitted their entries per sport for the elimination and are in high spirits to compete for the available tickets,” it said.

North West Zone assured the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development of full compliance to online/timely registration of their athletes and officials for the National Youth Games and also vowed to present the requisite graded Age who are also highly talented in their respective sports.

The communiqué said that they also signified readiness to credibly participate at 6″ Edition of the National Youth Games, tagged, “ILORIN-2021”.

It explained that at the end of the meeting it was unanimously resolved that the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development is living up to its expectations.

“Commends the visionary and missionary leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari on policies and programmes on youth, sports, facilities and related developments targeted towards growth and sustainability of the sector in addition to elevating it (sports) from leisure and recreation to full business.

“Gives kudos to the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development under the highly technical, tactical, innovative and digital Honourable Minister, Chief Sunday Dare and the result-oriented Permanent Secretary, Mr Nebolisa Anako for the implementation of the policies and programmes professionally,” it said.

The stakeholders also appreciated the Sokoto State Government under the leadership of Rt. Honourable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Matawallen-Sokoto) for hosting the Third Quarter Meeting of the zone’s major sports stakeholders (Directors of Sports) and the Zonal Sports Coordinator.

They further gave kudos to the Executive Governor of Sokoto State over virile policies and programmes on youth, sports and facilities development that are geared towards making the state a sporting haven in consideration of facilities construction currently ongoing at the Sports – Village.

The forum further advised the state government and the sports ministry to implore the assistance and advice of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports in the area of standardization of accuracy on playing dimensions.

They called on communities (sports) youth clubs, associations and organizations to officially register with relevant organs with a view for effective and efficient recognition, monitoring, and eventual support assistance they would derive from government and philanthropists.

The forum commended the efforts of Team  Nigeria’s performance at the just-concluded Olympic Games held at Tokyo-Japan, based on the level of preparation and unforeseen challenges that manifested and passionately called on the entire sporting community to further hail the contingent as there are hopes based on results recorded, that laurels (medals) will be harnessed in the next Games.

The Forum heartily welcomed Mal Dahiru Abdullahi, the new Zonal Co-odinator and assured him of total support in the onerous task of moving sports forward at the zone.

Similarly, they commended the proactiveness of caretaker committees chairmen of various sports federations, singling out Volleyball, Handball, Basketball, Table Tennis and Cricket for grassroots sports development programmes that are pursued radically in a revolutionary manner and are fast yielding desired results.

The stakeholders expressed appreciation for the efforts of the Zonal Sports Office on sponsorship drive that would lead to the conduct of late Sir, Ahmadu Bello KBE, MHA, Mni (Sardauna Sokoto), Premier of Northern Nigeria U-17 Soccer Championship tagged “North-West Zone Premier Cup – Sokoto 2021”.

The zone expressed a desire to conduct capacity building programmes like seminars, workshops, coaching and clinics designed for states coaches, community youth clubs coaches, primary and secondary school games masters/mistresses, military and paramilitary sports officers as well as civilians.

Events according to the communiqué are;  Forces Organizations Sports Trainers and Championship in the

Weight-Lifting under the sponsorship of Alhaji Babangida Hassani, to be conducted in Kaduna State in October 2021.

“It is equally worthy to note that states pledged to support and participate in the programmes,” it added.

The forum nominated the governors of Kaduna, Kano Katsina and the Sokoto States for the year 2021 Merit Awards on Youth, Sports, Facilities and Related Development, which presentations are scheduled for December 2021.

The meeting recorded the attendance of the Honourable Commissioner of Sports Sokoto State, the Zonal Coordinator, five (5) States Directors of Sports, One (1) State Deputy Director of Sports and Three (3) Zonal Staff.