Oshodi Lambaste NSC Over Elite National Sports Festival

 

 

The commission for youth sports  and social Development, Barrister Wahid Enitan Oshodi, has condemned the decision of National sports commission NSC, to make this year's edition of National sportsfestival tagged 2014 calabar Games an open event.

The National sports commision, NSC,ruled out the participation of amateur athletes to pave the way for elite athletes who are representing Nigeria in interational competitions.

Oshodi, while speaking with sports jounalists, said the Games which wopuld attract Nigeria's proffessional athletes in the mould of Segun Toriola, Blessing Okagbare, Funke Oshonaike, Effiong Edem, among others negate the aims and objectives of the National sports Festival which was designed to discover talents at the gassroot level.

While supporting his position on the Games with facts, oshodi, explained that Mercy Brume,  whose first National Sports Festival appearance was during the EKO 2012 Games where she won a laurel in Long jump, was a heroine at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games as she won a Gold medal in Long jump.

He said Lagos State had disassociated itself from other states that have complied with the NSC position and they have been paoching Nigeria's professionalathletes in a id to win laurels and not to design a comprehensive training programmes to discover and nurutre athletes to stardom, adding that Lagos State will feature amateur athletes who have been  representing the state in both national and international competitions.

According to him, the pride of Lagos State government is to see its amateur athletes competing against Nigeria's established and world class athletes at the 2014 Calabar Games.

Adeyinka Adebayo,

Wahid Enitan Oshodi Wants To Consolidate On 2013 Sports Achievement.

Lagos State Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development,Wahid Enitan Oshodi, says his Ministry will not relent in its efforts to continue with laudable developmental sports programmes geared at improving the standard of sports in the state.


Oshodi, who made the statement yesterday at the Ministerial briefing on the third year anniversary of the second term of Governor Babatunde Fashola, said the policies, programmes and his Ministry's activities are geared towards achieving the state government goals of an all round development and growth of the economy.

The Sports Commissioner, explained that his Ministry was able to achieve good result in the organisation of  series of international sporting competitions and local events based on the support of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola who sees sports as an important tool to delve a society and also empower the youth.


He said the hosting of the Federation Cup in collaboration with the Nigeria Football Association, NFA, in the last three editions of the competition had made the state to become the trail blazer in all spheres of human development, stressing that the relationship with the private sector has make the state the hub of international competitions in Africa.


He thanked members of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, Lagos State chapter for their constructive reportage of his Ministry's activities as their support elevated the status of table tennis in the world through the recent appraisal of International Table Tennis Federation,ITTF.