SOKOTO State Government has dispatched a 32-man contingent to the 31st National Quranic Recitation Competition which opens today in Ilorin, Kwara State, an official said on Wednesday.
Alhaji Ahmed Baba-Altine, Executive Secretary, Arabic and Islamic Education Board, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto that the team had departed for Ilorin.
Baba-Altine said the contingent had twelve main participants, twelve reservists, five officials and three judges, adding that 12 of the participants were female.
He said that the state would compete in all the six categories of the competition, and expressed confidence that they would win laurels for the state.
According to him, the team was groomed for two weeks at an intensive training programme organised by the board.
He said:” The state government has also provided them with all the needed logistics, including pocket money for the participants.
“I have, therefore, charged the competitors to be good ambassadors of their respective families and the state.
“As for the officials and judges, I be God-fearing, diligent, just and honest.”
NAN reports that the national Qur’anic recitation competition would be rounded off on February 11, 2017.