By Monday Ajogun
Benin – The Deputy Governor of Edo, Philip Shaibu, says the state government will assist in efforts to ensure that poaching of athletes does not affect the forthcoming National Sports Festival (NSF).
Shaibu, while addressing journalists at the Edo Government House in Benin on Friday, lamented that poaching robbed the state of some medals at the 19th NSF held in 2018 in Abuja.
“Edo lost some medals during the 19th edition of the NSF. From what we have put in place and the meeting we had with the festival’s Main Organising Committee (MOC), I think we have been able to handle the issue of poaching.
“All athletes that will be participating in this festival have been registered by the ministry. You are expected to be a player of that state or sign for that state 12 months before the commencement of the festival.
“Before anyone is accredited for an event, all those issues must have been sorted out. We will not have many problems as much as we had in Abuja on the issue of poaching.
“We are strictly monitoring states that love poaching athletes from other states.
“Edo was a victim during the last festival. In fact, when we looked at the medals table, we discovered that we lost about 49 medals to other states,’’ he said.
Shaibu said Team Edo and its handlers were already aware of all that, “and we are taking it very seriously’’.
He noted that this was because the 20th NSF was important beyond the aspect of uniting the nation.
“It will also serve as a platform to engage our youths and make them useful to themselves.
“For example, we are taking advantage of sports to re-create the hospitality business and help grow our economy. We want other states to see that sports is the direction to go.’’
The deputy governor however asked for the collaboration of the private sector in helping the growth of sports activities, saying “it is our collective interest to collaborate to engage our youths’’.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2020 NSF is scheduled for March 22 to April 1 in Benin City, Edo.
(NAN)
