Lagos State Is a Pace Setter, Yakmut Alhassan

The National Sports Commission, NSC, has commended the Lagos State government for setting the pace and platform that produce talents for future international competitions.

"This is the second edition and the NSC is sending its a representative because this is the platform that produces talent for future international event and it cannot be taken lightly. "Lagos has set the pace for doing it rightly and from what we have seen so far, some records of last year events have been broken". 

"Hence the reason the NSC is identify with the success story. NSC is here to take inventory of the discovered athletes because after the event , the discovered ones becomes national athletes".

Its Director of Grassroot Sports, Yakmut Al Hassan, who was among the special guests at the final of Premier Lotto Lagos Athletics Championship, who notices that records set at the maiden edition had been broken, said the commission would take inventory of discovered athletes at the competition.

"The High Performance programme of NSC initiated last year is responsible for the insurance that the athletes are monitored and supported in tertiary education because NSCdo not want to loss sight of the two, both excellence in sports and education have to be carried along".

He said the NSC through the high performance programme would be responsible for the discovered athletes who graduated from the secondary schools to tertiary institutions, adding that the commission would not loss the sight of excellence in sports and education.

"Five states in Nigeria are doing well, Lagos, Delta, Anambra and Ogun states are having genuine sports development proframs but five out of 36 is a poor performance, thus the NSCis appealing to other 31 states in order to harness enormous talents we have in the country"

Alhassan, explained that the transition between the immediate past Minister, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi and the present minister of Sports, Tanmuno Dangogo would be very easy because the commission’s Director General, Gbenga Elegbeleye  is a strong believer of grassroot programme, adding that the present Minister of Sports, Tamuno Dangogo would found it easy to continue with the laudable grassroot sports programme.

He identified Lagos , Delta, Cross River, Ogun  and Anambra states for establishing genuine sports developmental programme, stressing that the NSC would appeal to other states to begin a structured grassroot programme to harness enormous talent abound in Nigeria.