Skip to main content

Sports Festival, a tool for National unity- Dare.

The National Sports festival Edo 2020 has lived up to expectation in forging National unity and the discovery of talents, says Sports Minister Chief Sunday Dare.




While giving an overview of the biennial games, the Honourable Minister stated "By and large, our expectations have been met as a Ministry. The National Sports Festival  remains a strong tool for national unity which brings together young talents from across the length and breadth of the country. Apart from the spirit of sportsmanship, we have seen  great display of talents and skills, and  cutting edge competition amongst our young athletes. Also, we've seen  records broken and excitement from the participants who had waited and trained for years to do this."


The Minister who wen  round over 12  venues at festival revealed that  swimming is one of the sports where the country can win more than one medal at the Olympics. "This country should be one of the top swimming countries in the world, that is also one of the sports where you can easily win the highest number of medals. The most important lesson is how we can develop swimming. When you look at the South-South and the Far North for  example the Argungun Festival where  people swim,  it has always had potential. So we need to focus on  swimming because we can get more than 10 medals from the Olympics."




The Minister expressed delight on  the athletes impressive performances, insisting that the 'Adopt an Athlete Initiative' where some athletes were funded to train, get coaches as well equipments under private partnerships was paying off.  


While commending the President of the Handball Federation of Nigerian, the Minister said  "I have seen a high display of skills from our young boys and girls in handball, this country will start an handball program which could eventually result to Nigeria becoming world beaters. The Handball President is very innovative as he has been able to leverage on private sponsorship which is critical for every single federation. This has made the Handball Federation one of  the most successful Federations in the country"




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Showtime Flag Football Unveils Ambitious Plans for Nationwide Expansion

In the aftermath of the electrifying 2025 Showtime Bowl in Lagos, Azeez Amida, Chairman of Showtime Flag Football, has revealed immediate plans for a nationwide expansion of the league. The sold-out event, which marked the end of the season, drew fans, families, and sports enthusiasts from across the city and showcased the league's potential for growth. Azeez Amida, Chairman of Showtime Flag Football Amida announced plans to expand the league to six states by the end of 2026, signaling a new era for flag football in Nigeria. "We're expanding. By the end of next year, we aim to be in at least six states. The goal is to spread Showtime Flag Football across Nigeria and introduce more communities to this incredible sport," Amida said. Beyond geographic expansion, Amida shared his long-term vision: creating a viable professional pathway for aspiring flag football players within Nigeria. "We want our players to dream big to the point where they can say, 'I want to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kwara Governor Visits Sports Minister, Immortalizes Rashidi Yekini

Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, on Thursday visited the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare in his office in Abuja at a meeting that yielded fruitful deliberations as both sports lovers discussed prospects in youth and sports development. Acrobatic Late Rashidi Yekini, Nigeria vs Spain at France '98 FIFA World cup Governor AbdulRazaq announced that progress has been made in immortalizing football icon, Rashidi Yekini by naming the Kwara State Sports Complex Stadium Ilorin after him. L-R: Sunday Dare, Minister for Youth and Sports Development and AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, ExecutiveGovernor, Kwara state. He said, “We will send a bill to the State House of Assembly to immortalize Rashidi Yekini with the name of the stadium changing after the approval.” The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare had told the Governor about the series of letter that the Ministry wrote to the Kwara State Government for the immortalization of the late...
Post a Comment
Read more

Olajide Omotayo shines as Nigerians dominate men's singles

Olajide Omotayo gave an inkling of what he has in stock again at the 12th African Games as the Nigerian defeated one of the continent's most celebrated star - Egypt's Ahmed Saleh 4-3 in the quarterfinal of men's singles to berth in the semifinal of table tennis. A jubilant Olajide Omotayo Omotayo was all over the Egyptian in the encounter which had the fans glued to their seat throughout the match. The Nigerian combined his backhand with forehand smoothly and this confused the Egyptian who had to surrendered to the youthful Nigerian star. Aside Omotayo, Aruna Quadri also walloped Congo Brazzaville's Saheed Idowu 4-0 to berth in the last four and set up a rematch of the ITTF Africa Cup against Egypt's Omar Assar on Thursday August 29. Seven-time Olympian Segun Toriola was at his very best when he also beat Egypt's Khalid Assar 4-3 to set up a semifinal clash against Omotayo. In the women's event, Olufunke Oshonaike played her last game after going ...
Post a Comment
Read more