NYSC sports festival: FG wants club owners, sporting bodies to work with scheme

The Federal Government has appealed to club owners, sporting bodies to work with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) with a view to harnessing the various potentials in the scheme.

It said this, in view of the expertise and skills displayed by Corps members at the just concluded 2019 NYSC annual cultural and sports festival.

Speaking at the closing of the festival held at the National Stadium at the weekend in Abuja, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Sunday Dare noted that the scheme; “is a reservoir of talents and if effectively harnessed will contribute to the overall development of our nation.”

While expressing the FG’s commitment to youth and sports development, he assured that the Ministry would continue to support the annual festival.

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He said: “Given the expertise and skills displayed by Corps members during the competition I am confident that a good number of participants would no doubt make fruitful careers in sports. I want to use this medium to reaffirm the commitment of the FG to the development of the youths this is being demonstrated through the various empowerment in making our young men and women self-reliant, sustaining and self-employed.

“The Ministry will continue to support this annual event. I also enjoin sporting bodies, various federations and private sector organizations to support the NYSC towards achieving the goals and objectives of this sporting festival. In particular, I wish to appeal to club owners to work closely with the scheme with the view to harnessing the potentials identified in the various activities.”

Earlier, the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, explained that the three-day event featured competitions in football, volleyball and athletics.

“It served as a platform for the exposure of the talents of our Corps members in the track and field events in addition to further advancing the cause of unity and national integration through interactions of these youths of diverse socio-cultural backgrounds.

He expressed confidence that with the level of given performances displayed at the event, a good number of the Corps members will achieve further feats, including successful careers in sports.