20th November, 2012
Enugu State is now fully prepared for the 18th edition of the National Sports Festival, NSF tagged ‘Eko 2012’, the state Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Chijoke Agu has declared.
According to the commissioner, the coal city state would storm the fiesta with about 250 contingents made up of athletes and officials, just as it would be competing in 22 sporting events.
He stated that the aim of the state is to win medals and not just to participate in the tournament, stressing that their target is to be among the states that would be in the first ten positions this time around. Disclosing this in Enugu during an interactive session with sports writers in the state, Agu said “we are very grateful to the state governor, Sullivan Chime, for the keen interest he had shown in sports in recent time including the forthcoming national sports festival.”
The State Government, he said, has provided all the needed logistics for the contingents “so, I must tell you that the state athletes are now in the right psychological frame of mind for the games”.
Agu explained that the school sports recently introduced by his ministry was aimed at discovering talents that would always represents the state in national competition such as the forthcoming National Sports Festival.
The state’s athletes who have been in camp for about three weeks now according to him, are expected to storm Lagos from 25 November.
The commissioner also used the forum to call on sports journalist in the state and country at large to rise up and expose any state that indulges in athletes poaching or racketeering , noting that such act had continued to do more harm than good to the nation’s sports .
Vice President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN, South East Zone, Foster Chime and Enugu state chapter chairman of the body, Norbert Okolie, had in their separate remarks during the session assured the commissioner of the readiness of sports journalist in the state and zone to partner with his ministry via accurate and objective reportage of sporting activities in the coal city state.