The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, has said that the National Youth Games has inspired a new era of resilience and dedication in young Nigerian athletes.
The minister made the statement as the representative of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the closing ceremony of the 8th National Youth Games, tagged “Asaba 2024”, held at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, Delta State, on Thursday.
While presenting the President’s speech, the minister said, “The National Youth Games has been a valuable platform to discover young talents that would represent Nigeria in various sports in the future.”
Represented by the Director, Grassroots Sports Department, Mr. Patrick Okeke, the minister observed that the tournament has been successful in achieving its purpose as “it has inspired a new era of resilience and dedication in the young athletes in their zeal to take the lead in Nigerian sports.”
He added: “It is important to emphasise that the National Youth Games has been successful in achieving its purpose.”
He also said the Games has been a valuable platform to discover young talents who go on to represent Nigeria in various sports, maintaining that many athletes discovered in the past have become champions, and in representing the country they create opportunities for themselves.
Enoh expressed delight over the remarkable talent and dexterity displayed by the young athletes during the games and commended their high level of discipline and sportsmanship, stressing that the future of Nigerian sports is bright.
The minister noted that a total of 450 talented athletes from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory were identified in this edition of the National Youths Games.
While commending the Delta State government for its magnanimity and dedication in ensuring a successful hosting of the games, he also applauded the governments of the participating states for sponsoring their contingents to the event and charged them to come up with a talent hunt plan to ensure that the newly discovered talents are nurtured against the future.
Speaking further, the minister urged the states to key in to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to leverage into the socio-economic potentials of sports in the development of their various states.
“The National Youth Games,” he said, “not only promotes peace and unity but also fosters economic posterity for the host state.”
Earlier in his address, the Governor of Delta State, Rt Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, congratulated the young athletes for their display of raw talents, resilience, and sportsmanship all through the Games.
He said the tournament “has once again demonstrated the power of sports to unite and promote our rich cultural heritage.”
He called on states to continue to nurture and invest in grassroots sports to be able to create opportunities for the young ones.
The Director, Information and Public Relations of the Federal Ministry of Sports Development, Mrs. Kehinde Ajayi, disclosed in a press release that Team Delta emerged champion for the 8th consecutive time with a total of 111 medals, 46 gold, 31 silver and 34 bronze, while Lagos and Edo states came second and third with a total 65 and 59 medals respectively.
