Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who expressed concerns over rising cases of cultism and drug abuse among the youth in Nigeria, gave the warning at the grand finale of the maiden edition of the Federal Government Colleges Zonal Football Competition (FGC-ZFC), held at the Federal Government Academy, Suleja, Sports Ground.
Adamu while urging the students to engage in sports and other extra-curricular activities, also advised them to improve on their academic performances in order to excel in life.
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The Minister was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Sonny Echono, where he pledged the commitment of the Federal Government to sustain the development of sports in schools across the country.
High point of the event was the presentation of Gold Medals to the students of Queens College Yaba, Lagos and Federal Government College, Minna, Niger State for winning the first position in female and male soccer competitions respectively.
Cash rewards were also presented to some players who distinguished themselves in terms of highest goal scoring, most valuable players from both the female and male teams.
While Emmanuel Ode of FGC, Minna, emerged the highest goal scorer in male soccer with 6 goals, Igweze Hope Chinelo of Federal Government Girls College, Abaji scored five goals and were both rewarded with a cash prize of N50,000 each.
The Minister said: “This competition, new rules would have been learnt and new friends and linkages established. The competition has also served as the avenue for developing the students physically, mentally and socially in line with the inseparable roles of sports and education”.
Director, Education Support Services, Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs Justina Ibe, whose office was saddled with the responsibility of organizing the competition, said the plan for the sporting competition started about two years ago even though the idea was conceived by the Ministry in 2010 but could not be brought to fruition until this year.
She noted that apart from the fact that sports foster unity and peaceful co-existence among people, the zonal football competition of the Ministry was borne out of the desire to lay a solid foundation for the grooming of strong and formidable team that could be become the future Nigeria national team players.
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